Method and apparatus for starting up a network or fabric

ABSTRACT

A method and system for starting up a network or network device with particular discussion regarding Fibre Channel networks and switches. The method and system relate to powering on or re-starting a plurality of Fibre Channel switching devices, each of those devices having ports. The system generally calls for the selection of a priority threshold that relates to the importance of tasks in fabric formation. Some embodiments of the system exploit a port authentication procedure to separate the execution of tasks higher in priority than the threshold from tasks lower in priority than the threshold.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to security in switching and routing environmentsand more specifically to serial point-to-point switching environmentssuch as the Fibre Channel switching environment. The invention alsorelates to the architecture of network switching environments and thecontrol of security in such an environment. Furthermore, the inventionrelates to authentication and time services in the area of security.

The past two decades have witnessed the rapid evolution and deploymentof information technology. This evolution resulted in a more ubiquitouspresence of information handling systems including systems forinformation storage, management, transport and access. The rapiddevelopment of the Internet has contributed materially to thisubiquitous information age by allowing single and possibly remote accesspoints to interact with world-wide networks and unprecedented masses ofinformation. This trend of information ubiquity and dispersion is likelyto continue.

One of the problems born with the spread of information is the issue ofsecurity. In the modern world, there are several aspects to informationsecurity. In a very general sense these aspects include the following:physical security; communications security, emissions security; computersecurity; and network security. Physical security involves the physicalprotection of hard assets such as books or machines (including, ofcourse, all manner of computers). Physical security systems are designedto protect the physical integrity of things and physical security iscommonly implemented by denying access to those things. Communicationsecurity is concerned with the logical protection of information when intransit. Communication security systems should protect information evenif physically in the hands of someone unauthorized. A commoncommunication security technique is encryption. Emissions security isconcerned with the protection of signal emissions from an electricsystem. A common manner to implement emissions security is throughlimiting emissions. Computer security is used to control access tocomputer systems and information, which is commonly done by definingwhat users (including programs and devices) can access what other users(also including programs and devices). Finally, network security isprimarily concerned with securing the local network from elements thatare outside the local network yet physically or logically connected.

In the past, the solution for information security may have resulted inlocking a mainframe safely in a room with limited access. In the 1990'sthe problem of effectively securing information became more difficult asthe popularity of personal computers, the availability of high speed,inexpensive modems and the popularity of the Internet combined to notonly increase the number of computer security incidents, but alsoincrease the severity of the incidents.

Information security is now more significant issue facing today'selectronic society. As the information highway transcends borders,locked doors are no longer sufficient to protect one of thecorporation's most valuable assets—information. Furthermore, theubiquitous, low-cost nature of the Internet has caused an explosion ine-business and e-commerce activity, creating a paradigm shift in thebusiness world. However, in implementing IT infrastructures under thenew paradigm, companies and individuals must be realistic aboutdeploying security measures) minimizing risk and choosing securitysolutions that will allow flexibility, growth, and provide the properbalance for the corporate security strategy and policy.

In the modern science of information security, systems may be analyzedby their vulnerability to defined “attacks.” Specific types of attacksare generally defined with reference to specific systems so there are avirtually unlimited number of attack types. However, most all attacktypes fall into four categories. The first very general type of attackis an access attack, which is simply an effort to gain unauthorizedaccess to information thereby compromising the secrecy of theinformation. The second type of attack is the repudiation attack wherethe attacker provides false information to the system such as byclaiming to have sent a message only once, when the attacker actuallysent the message twice. Repudiation (or providing false information)should be contrasted from providing inaccurate data, which is amodification attack. A modification attack (the third very general typeof attack) occurs when the attacker attempts to modify informationwithout authorization thereby compromising the integrity of theinformation. The fourth very general type of attack is theservice-denial attack. This type of attacker attempts to deny authorizedusers access to information or systems. This is commonly done byflooding a system with unauthorized requests.

The inventions disclosed herein are born in the Fibre Channel (“FC”)switching area. Historically Fibre Channel has been a loose securityenvironment. In particular, when a FC switch connects to an FC fabric,the switch automatically has full authority in the fabric. Fullauthority means that the switch potentially has access to everythingconnected to or through the Fibre Channel fabric. This automaticauthorization creates security vulnerabilities in the system that maynot apply in other systems. As such, the innovations discussed hereinwere born with a somewhat specific set of problems (although still verygeneral). Although well known to the artisan, those problems will now bebriefly listed: (i) administrative access control and the lack ofgranularity in management access; (ii) “spoofing,” which is when adevice gains access to unauthorized resources using an identificationthat is not genuine or authentic; (iii) unauthorized access to a deviceon the network may easily yield unauthorized access to the network andimportant information such as passwords, encryptions keys,identification credentials, etc.; (iv) unauthorized access by one tenantto another tenant's resources in multi-tenant or shared environments,such as ASPs; (v) computing devices placed on the network to pretend tobe a different kind of device, such as a switch; (vi) unauthorizedaccess through the device ports such as front panel controls or I/Oports (e.g. the serial port (RS232)); (vii) unauthorized applicationsclogging the network by sending out a high volume of dummy managementmessages or I/Os to resources on the network: (viii) unauthorizedanalysis on the communication lines to learn about management or datatraffic; and (ix) the protection of passwords during transmission overthe network.

Generally, there are several desirable attributes of a security system.At a very high level, the following list is illustrative: (i) ease ofmanageability; (ii) scalability; (iii) allowing for accountability; (iv)interoperability, potentially through standards; (v) strongauthentication; (vi) strong confidentiality, such as encryptiontechniques with automatic key management; and (vi) ease of use.

The innovations discussed herein address many of the aforementionedconcerns using techniques and apparatus significantly advanced from theprior arts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a specific sense, the inventions disclosed herein seek to solve theproblems created by the absence of standardized methods and apparatusfor handling security in a Fibre Channel network. In a general sense,the inventions described herein propose a variety of ways to enhancesecurity in a networking environment. There are several inventivemethods and apparatus, and they may be deployed singularly or in variouscombinations.

One high-level aspect of the invention is an intelligent entity in thenetwork with defined and essentially exclusive responsibility fornetwork management and security functions. By focusing managementresponsibility on a single device, network designers and operators canbetter secure the network by limiting physical access to that device. Ofcourse, logical access to such a device might occur from anything in thenetwork or connected to the network. Therefore, the invention envisionsvarious mechanisms for controlling and limiting logical access. One suchtechnique is the use of management access controls. Specifically, thatis using policy sets to give network operators the ability tospecifically designate logical channels from which security andmanagement instructions may originate. For example, an operator maydisable serial port access, front panel access or HTTP access for thepurposes of management or security changes. Another technique forlimiting management access and enhancing security is to specificallydesignate which devices can send or receive information to which otherdevices. For example, a device should operate under control that willnot permit use or forwarding of received information if the informationsource is not an authorized source.

Furthermore, the invention describes other security innovations, inaddition to focused network management and limitation of networkmanagement channels. A primary example is the description of a novellink authentication system. More particularly, this system enables portlevel authentication so that a port (or the system controlling it) canhave a high degree of confidence that the port on the other side of itslink is authentic (i.e. it is what it says it is). In addition to portauthentication, the invention offers a unique system for securelydistributing time service in a network according to a push model. Thisis contrasted to the pull model that pervades standard Fibre Channelnetworking.

Finally, the invention contemplates the combination of these techniquesas well as the innovative use of encryption technologies to form acohesive security scheme in the network. For example, one embodiment ofthe invention may comprise a configuration server that is responsiblefor a defined set of management and security functions in the network.That same configuration server may operate as a focal point fordistribution of secure time service and use one of the inventive portauthentication systems of the invention. Many other permutations may beconstructed by simply the various concepts in the manner suggestedherein.

A more complete summary of each aspect of the invention now follows.

In implementing network security, one aspect of the invention calls forvarying degrees of hierarchical control. In particular, an embodimentexploiting this aspect of the invention will designate which devices mayperform designated security or management functions. This designationbears on hierarchical control in that devices with larger designation ofresponsibility are higher on the chain of hierarchical control. Lessgenerally, one aspect of the invention contemplates a networkconfiguration entity that is responsible for defined security andmanagement functions in the network. By so limiting which devices allowaccess to management and security functions, the logical security of theentire network may be enhanced by providing greater physical securityfor such a network configuration entity. In practice, network operators(who presumably configure and operate networks) may maintain logicalnetwork security while deploying devices in both secure and non-securephysical locations. That is the ability to locate network equipment inbuildings, rooms or cabinets with varying degrees of physical securityas long as the network configuration entity is located in an area ofsufficient physical security. In certain embodiments of the invention,equipment residing in less secure physical environment should presentlogical security barriers for effecting the network. To achieve thatgoal, certain embodiments of the invention allow network operators todetermine the specific devices that may facilitate management-levelaccess to the network. In addition, network-wide login names andpasswords may be used to protect from new equipment that may be added ina non-secure network-accessible location. For example, using anembodiment of the invention, an operator would configure a switch in anon-secure physical location so that no network management access ispossible. In addition, network-wide passwords and login names help limitthe ability to set up new equipment for unauthorized access to thenetwork or its management functions.

Another aspect of the invention involves security over the logicalmanagement channels by providing confidentiality or information securityfor certain management information being passed over the network. Forexample, when logging on over a management channel, the login andpassword information is exchanged. Certain embodiments of the inventioncall for the encryption or other secreting of this type of information.

Yet another aspect of the invention involves logical access tomanagement controls by allowing the operator to limit the use of thevarious logical management access channels. For example, an operator mayconfigure management access to be limited to SNMP from only oneparticular source. Alternatively, the operator can define which logicalchannels (e.g. telnet, HTTP, SES, serial port etc.) may be used foraccess to the network. In a preferred embodiment, this limitation ofaccess is effected by distribution of policy sets throughout thenetwork. In one such embodiment, for example, there is a policy set forfront panel access. The policy defines which entities in the network mayobtain valid information from an operator using the front panel. If aspecific entity is not properly identified in the front panel MAC(“management access control”) policy, then that entity's front panelwill be disabled.

Another security and management tool contemplated by the inventioninvolves device or entity connection controls, which allow the operatorsto specify what devices or entities are allowed in the network andpotentially what entities are allowed access to what other entities inthe network. This concept can further extend to allowing for operatordefinition of which ports or nodes may communicate with which otherports or nodes. These types of controls can limit unauthorized access tothe network because unauthorized devices will be unable to access thenetwork. This is because no device, port or node on the network ispermitted to communicate with an unknown device, port or node.

Yet another aspect of the invention is link authentication, whichprovides apparatus and techniques for authenticating point-to-pointconnections between ports (“links”) so that the device owning each portcan efficiently verify the identity and credentials of the port on theopposite side of the link. This is very useful because all data transferintegrity is compromised if the receiver of a sent communication is notwho or what it says it is.

The final general aspect is the invention is secure time service, whichprovides apparatus and techniques for enhancing security and substantiveoperations by ensuring secure and uniform timekeeping across thenetwork. For example, reliable time stamps provide additionalverification abilities for communications because they allow latency,interval, and sequencing analysis.

Of course, the combination and specific implementations of theseinvention, as described, provide further levels of innovations. Forexample, in a preferred embodiment combining the various aspects of theinvention, many of the functions may be implemented by use of policysets or lists deployed to each device in the network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the invention can be had when the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments is considered inconjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a network including a Fibre Channel fabric or switchedenvironment.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration of a switch.

FIG. 3 is a two switch or entity fabric.

FIG. 4 is a fabric including 3 switches.

FIG. 5 a shows a basic approach for a one way authentication.

FIG. 5 b shows an approach for authentication.

FIG. 5 c shows another approach for authentication.

FIG. 5 d shows an approach for mutual link authentication.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment for sequencing of a mutual linkauthentication.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment for sequencing of a mutual linkauthentication.

FIG. 8 shows a two-step mutual authentication.

FIG. 9 shows hardware and a process for authenticating two switches.

FIG. 10 is a network of switching and/or routing entities.

FIG. 11 a shows a single-level management hierarchy.

FIG. 11 b shows a two-level management hierarchy.

FIG. 11 c shows a three-level management hierarchy.

FIG. 12 shows a Fibre Channel fabric and attached devices.

FIG. 13 shows a exemplary network using time service.

FIG. 14 shows a Fibre Channel fabric.

FIG. 15 shows distributed time service interaction between devices.

FIG. 16 shows hardware and process steps for embodiments of securedistributed time service.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Titles and subtitles used in the text are intended only as focal pointsand an organization tool. These titles are not intended to specificallydescribe the applicable discussion or imply any limitation of thatdiscussion. Furthermore, in the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however,to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other circumstances, structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring theinvention.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

I. The Network Context

Referring to FIG. 1, a network 100 is shown including a Fibre Channel(“FC”) fabric 102 coupled with several elements and sub-networks. In thespecific network shown, the heart of the communications system is FibreChannel. However, the inventions discussed herein are not necessarilylimited to Fibre Channel networking or configurations. In the context ofsecurity, many of the problems solved by the current inventions mayapply to all forms of communications including, without limitation, IPnetworks.

FIG. 1 illustrates a Fibre Channel network 100 according to the presentinvention. Generally, the network 100 is connected using Fibre Channelconnections (e.g., optical fiber, coaxial cable, and twisted pairconnections). In the embodiment shown and for illustrative purposes, thenetwork 100 includes a fabric 102 comprised of four different switches110, 112, 114, and 116. It will be understood by one of skill in the artthat a Fibre Channel fabric may be comprised of one or more switches.

A variety of devices can be connected to the fabric 102. A Fibre Channelfabric supports both point-to-point and loop device connections. Apoint-to-point connection is a direct connection between a device andthe fabric. A loop connection is a single fabric connection thatsupports one or more devices in an “arbitrated loop” configuration,wherein signals travel around the loop through each of the loop devices.Hubs, bridges, and other configurations may be added to enhance theconnections within an arbitrated loop.

On the fabric side, devices are coupled to the fabric via fabric ports.A fabric port (F_Port) supports a point-to-point fabric attachment. Afabric loop port (FL_Port) supports a fabric loop attachment. BothF_Ports and FL_Ports may be referred to generically as Fx_Ports.Typically, ports connecting one switch to another switch are referred toas expansion ports (E_Ports).

On the device side, each device coupled to a fabric constitutes a node.Each device includes a node port by which it is coupled to the fabric. Aport on a device coupled in a point-to-point topology is a node port(N_Port). A port on a device coupled in a loop topology is a node loopport (NL_Port). Both N_Ports and NL_Ports may be referred to genericallyas Nx_Ports. The label N_Port or NL_Port may be used to identify adevice, such as a computer or a peripheral, which is coupled to thefabric.

Loop devices (NL_Ports) coupled to a fabric may be either “public” or“private” devices that comply with the respective Fibre Channel standard(e.g., Fabric Loop Attach standard FC-FLA, or Fibre Channel Private LoopDirect Attach FC-PLDA, respectively). Those skilled in the art will befamiliar with the configurations for enabling public and private devicesto operate in compliance with ANSI specifications (e.g., X3.272 1996;T11 project 1133-D) and the NCITS specification (e.g., NCITS TR-20 1998;NCITS TR-19 1998).

Typically, private loop devices cannot log into an attached fabric andare thus incapable of communicating with other fabric devices. However,a well-suited method for allowing private loop devices to communicatewith public fabric-attached devices is disclosed in commonly assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/370,095, entitled “System and Methodfor Sending and Receiving Frames Between a Public Device and a PrivateDevice,” by Stai, et al, filed on Aug. 6, 1999, the subject matter ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. In general,private addresses reside at the “end points” of the fabric, and uponentering a loop, frames having the format of the private address aretransformed to a format associated with a public address. This impliesthat there is a representation of private traffic in a public formatwhen a frame navigates through a loop.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, fabric 102 includes switches 110,112, 114 and 116 that are interconnected. Switch 110 is attached toprivate loop 122, which is comprised of devices 126 and 124. Switch 112is attached to device 152. Switch 114 is attached to device 170, whichhas two logical units 172, 174 attached to device 170. Typically, device170 is a storage device, which in turn may be coupled to additionalindividual hard disks represented as logical units (i.e., 172 and 174).Switch 116 is attached to devices 132 and 134, and is also attached topublic loop 162, which is formed from devices 164, 166 and 168 beingcommunicatively coupled together. A user interface 142 also connects tothe fabric 102 through switch 112.

II. Explaining the Switch

While the inventions herein are not necessarily limited to Fibre Channelnetworks, the implementations and embodiments center around developmentsin the Fibre Channel world. Therefore, in order to more fully appreciatethe inventions, some discussion of an exemplary Fibre Channel switch maybe useful.

FIG. 2 illustrates a basic block diagram of a switch 200, such asswitches 110, 112, 114 or 116, according to the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. A processor and 1/0 interface complex 202provides the processing capabilities of the switch 200. The processormay be any of various suitable processors, including the Intel i960 andthe Motorola PowerPC. The I/O interfaces may include low speed serialinterfaces, such as RS-232, which use a driver/receiver circuit 204, orhigh-speed serial network interfaces, such as Ethernet, which use a PHYcircuit 206 to connect to a local area network (LAN). Main memory orDRAM 208 and flash or permanent memory 210 are connected to theprocessor complex 202 to provide memory to control and be used by theprocessor.

The processor complex 202 also includes an I/O bus interface 212, suchas PCI bus, to connect to Fibre Channel circuits 214 and 216. The FibreChannel circuits 214, 216 in the preferred embodiment each contain eightFibre Channel ports. Each port is connected to an external SERDEScircuit 218, which in turn is connected to a media interface 220, whichreceives the particular Fibre Channel medium used to interconnectswitches used to form a fabric or to connect to various devices.

III. Securing a Network

A. Securing a Network: Generally

While the invention includes several individual techniques for achievingdiffering aspects of network security, the invention includes an overallarchitecture and sub-architectures for securing a network. At a veryhigh level, the inventive security architecture comprises six aspects:(i) physical access to management functions; (ii) security over thelogical management channels; (iii) logical access to managementcontrols; (iv) device or entity connection controls; (v) linkauthentication; and (vi) security time service.

The first aspect, physical access to management function s, generallyinvolves enabling the network operators (who presumably configure andoperate networks) to use network equipment in both secure and non-securephysical locations. That is the ability to locate network equipment inbuildings, rooms or cabinets with varying degrees of physical security.In certain embodiments of the invention, equipment residing in lesssecure physical environment should present security barriers foreffecting the network. To achieve that goal, certain embodiments of theinvention allow network operators to determine the specific devices thatmay facilitate management-level access to the network. In addition,network-wide login names and passwords may be used to protect from newequipment that may be added in a non-secure location. For example, usingan embodiment of the invention, an operator would configure a switch ina non-secure physical location so that no network management access ispossible. In addition, network-wide passwords and login names help limitthe ability to set up new equipment for unauthorized access to thenetwork or its management functions.

The second aspect, security over the logical management channels,involves providing confidentiality or information security for certainmanagement information being passed over the network. For example, whenlogging on over a management channel, the login and password informationis exchanged. Certain embodiments of the invention call for theencryption or other secreting of this type of information.

The third aspect, logical access to management controls, involvesallowing the operator to limit the use of the various logical managementaccess channels. For example, an operator may configure managementaccess to be limited to SNMP from only one particular source.

The fourth aspect, device or entity connection controls, involvesallowing the operators to specify what devices or entities are allowedin the network and potentially what entities are allowed access to whatother entities in the network. For example, generally, these types ofcontrols can limit unauthorized access to the network becauseunauthorized devices are not allowed on the network and authorizeddevices are only allowed to communicate to specified other devices.

The fifth aspect, link authentication, provides apparatus and techniquesfor authenticating point to point connections between ports (“links”) sothat the device owning each port can efficiently verify the identity andcredentials of the port on the opposite side of the link. This isnecessary because all data transfer integrity is compromised if thereceiver of a sent communication is not who or what it says it is.

The sixth aspect, security time service, provides apparatus andtechniques for enhancing security and substantive operations by ensuringsecure and uniform timekeeping across the network. For example, reliabletime stamps provide additional verification abilities for communicationsbecause they allow latency, interval, and sequencing analysis.

Each of these six aspects will be explained further. The explanationsare first conceptual and illustrative of the innovative techniques. Inaddition, to the extent appropriate, the conceptual explanations arefollowed by implementation details or examples. Some of theimplementation details or examples will discuss “policies,” which areessentially lists used as rules or procedure restrictions in a computingenvironment and specifically in a Fibre Channel switching environment.

Since the innovations discussed herein grow out of Fibre Channelswitching, many of the examples and implementation details will stemfrom that environment.

B. Securing a Network: The Fabric

As discussed throughout, the following discussion arises in a FCenvironment and discusses switches. However, the inventions may applyoutside that environment and to any network connected devices.

In an FC fabric, many aspects of device and network control are managedthrough the use of policy sets. In particular, the invention envisions avariety of security policy sets, with each set targeted at a specificcomponent of the overall fabric security structure. The security policysets under the invention involve specifying and controlling the accessto fabric management capabilities and controlling the physicalcomponents in the fabric as well as their connections within the fabric.In order to be most effective, the policies must be enforced throughoutthe fabric. This is because even one non-secure device or switch maycreate an opening that compromises the security of the entire fabric.Therefore, most embodiments require that, in order to use the securitypolicies, all members of the fabric must be enabled to operate with thesecurity policies. In order to effect this, many embodiments of theinvention supply a management command (“SecModeEnable”) to turn securityon or off fabric-wide. Since most effective security requiresfabric-wide participation, in those embodiments, the SecModeEnablecommand will fail if there are devices in the fabric that are notcapable.

Regarding the activation of secure mode, throughout the discussion, whenmentioning secure mode “active,” “on,” “off” or “enabled,” or the like,the general reference is to the active enabling of security throughoutthe fabric. The actual security functions and policies enabled will bedetermined by the specifics or context of the discussion.

In some embodiments, the SecModeEnable command must be accompanied by alist of one or more switches identities. The switch identifies designateswitches that will become fabric configuration servers (“FCS”), whichare explained in detail later. Switch identities are usually specifiedusing world-wide-names (“WWNs”). The SecModeEnable command will alsocause the creation of default policy sets to be distributed to all theswitches in the fabric. In some embodiments, a switch serving as theprimary FCS will control that distribution and the activation of thesecurity function. In many embodiments, the policies are recognized intwo categories, active policies (those currently being enforced) anddefined policies (defined policies are copies of the policies that havebeen created/modified and saved. Active policies are set from definedpolicies). In such embodiments, when a switch is rebooted, only thesaved set of active policies are enforced. However, generally, whensecurity is activated, all security policies are enforced. Lastly, insome embodiments, secure mode may not be activated unless the fabric istime synchronized (distributed time synchronization is discussed later)

IV. Physical Access to Management Functions

As discussed earlier, this aspect involves apparatus and techniques thatreduce the risk of locating network devices in physically non-secureenvironments. These apparatus and techniques allow the network operatorto restrict management operations to switches or other devices that arephysically secure, perhaps at a central site. The features furtherprovide the ability to prevent network (or fabric) management access insites where security may be weaker perhaps a remote site). However, thispredicate is general in nature and, in any event, is not intended tolimit the application of the innovations discussed herein.

A. Physical Access to Management Functions: Generally

In implementing security in a network, the invention contemplatesvarying degrees of hierarchical control. In particular, each entity mayhave some security responsibilities and authority but some will havemore than others. This is contrasted with a system where all entities inthe network have authority in rough equivalence. Referring to FIG. 10,there is shown a network of switching and/or routing entities 1001,1002, 1003, 1004, 1005 and 1006. There is also shown computer terminal1022, first server 1024, second server 1025, first storage entity 1026and second storage entity 1023. As explained earlier, any number ofelements may connect to the network for any variety of purposes.

Referring again to FIG. 10, some embodiments of the invention use aNetwork Configuration Entity (“NCE”), which is a single intelligententity in the network to control many security functions. In someembodiments, computer terminal 1022 may be the NCE for the network shownand as such will control a defined set of security and managementfunctions in the network. The defined set of security and managementfunctions may be any functions for which there is capability in theconnected entities. Some sample functions that may be controlled are thefollowing: the process and procedures for recognition, operation andsuccession of the NCE; user configurable options in the network; therules and processes for interaction among entities in the network; rulesand processes for interaction between connected ports in the network;and rules and processes for management access (either by communicationformat or physical I/O device) to any particular entity on the network.Therefore, in some embodiments, the NCE (here, computer terminal 1022)is the exclusive mechanism for controlling or altering any of thedefined set of functions. In some implementations, the NCE may bereached through any of its normal communications mechanisms, although,higher security may be achieved if the NCE must be directly accessed byan operator. The latter case provides enhanced security because physicalaccess to the NCE may be controlled, such as by use of a secure lockedroom or enclosure, represented in FIG. 10 by enclosure 1027. In eithercase, the NCE must communicate with all other entities on the secureportion of the network in order to convey all the necessaryconfiguration and security information. This communication can occur atany time but usually occurs during network initialization or when newentities join the network, or often upon changes to any of the definedset of functions.

Having now discussed the concepts of some single NCE embodiments, FIG.11 b shows the logical hierarchy of such a system. Referring then toFIG. 11 b, which shows authority hierarchy, the NCE would have thehighest level of authority and all other entities in the system wouldhave the Lower authority level. Other embodiments of the invention willhave multiple levels of authority, as illustrated in FIG. 11 c, whichdepicts a 3-level hierarchy. While one or more entities may be in eachlevel of authority, many embodiments of the current invention call foronly one entity at the highest level at any one time.

Some specific uses of a 3-level hierarchy, are the embodiments of theinvention using an NCE and one or more back-up NCEs to ensure that theunavailability of the NCE does not cause a break down in networksecurity or other disruption on the network. For example, referringagain to FIG. 10, terminal 1022 may be the primary NCE and switches 1001and 1006 may be back-up NCEs. In that case, if terminal 1022 were to gooff-line or fail to function, one of the back-up NCE's would becomeprimary and assume all NCE duties. The decision regarding which back-upto use may be made in a variety of ways such as: order of serial numbersor other unique numbers; physical position; logical loading; orcapabilities. For our example, suppose we used the entities unique IDnumber and switch 1001 became primary NCE upon the failure of terminal1022. If switch 1001 were then to fail, the next NCE back-up (in thiscase, switch 1006) would become primary NCE. If, in turn, switch 1006were to fail, then there would be no entity eligible to be NCE. Thisproblem may be handled in at least three ways. If security is paramount,then the problem should be resolved by stopping the substantivecommunications in the system until an NCE comes on-line. If up-time isparamount, then the system should simply chose any entity to serve asNCE based upon abilities. Finally, the problem may also be resolved byallowing the system to continue operation without an NCE. As a variantof the third solution, some embodiments allow continued operation if thelast NCE goes offline, however, no management changes are permitteduntil an NCE comes back online.

Regarding NCE back-ups, the invention may be implemented where anyentity may serve as an NCE back-up or where the NCE back-ups must bepre-designated. Pre-designation of back-up NCEs allows consideration ofhow appropriate any particular entity may be to physical security oraccess to the entities. As mentioned earlier, it may be desirable tolimit physical access to the NCE.

Returning now to the discussion regarding why back-up NCE systems may beexamples of 3-level hierarchy, FIG. 11 c may be applied as follows. Theprimary NCE will have the highest level of authority. The back-up NCE'swill have the middle level of authority because they are, at a minimum,more authorized than the other entities in that they are eligible tobecome the primary NCE. All other entities in the system will posses thelower authority level. The invention contemplates authority schemes withmany levels, which would be applied in a similar fashion.

B. Physical Access to Management Functions: The Fabric

Many embodiments of the invention may be implemented in a Fabric(discussed earlier). As discussed in the background, in a Fibre Channelenvironment the basic elements are generically called switches. Eachswitch may have one or more ports and each intelligent entity connectedto the Fabric will connect through a port. While the followingdescription specifically discusses the interaction between two E-portsin Fibre Channel switches, it may equally apply to any port-bearingentities in switching systems or other communication systems.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown a Fibre Channel fabriccomprising switches 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205 and 1206 that arecoupled by links 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, 1215 and 1216. Thefabric couples with various computing and other intelligent systems1222, 1223, 1224, 1225 and 1226 through links 1217, 1218, 1220, 1219 and1221 respectively.

Switches 1201, 1204 and 1205 are Fabric Configuration Servers (“FCSs”),which are trusted switches in the network and are identified as such bytheir world-wide-names (“WWNs”). There is a list of FCSs that isdistributed fabric-wide, and may in some embodiments be distributednetwork-wide (assuming that there may be a connected network outside ofthe fabric). In some embodiments, the first switch listed on the list isthe primary FCS. For purposes of this discussion, assume switch 1201 isthe primary FCS, that being the actual switch with exclusive authorityfor selected management and security functions. In some embodimentsthose selected functions are: performing fabric-wide managementrequests; initiating password changes; and initiating SNMP communitystring changes. In certain embodiments, if the first switch isunavailable then the second switch on the list will become the primaryFCS (assume for this example, switch 1204). If the second FCS (switch1204) is not available, then the third becomes primary (assume switch1205) and so on.

Referring again to FIG. 12, there may be a desire to add entities suchas switch 1206 to the network, or in this particular case, to thefabric. In order to logically join the fabric, the new switch 1206 mustbe enabled and set to function in the secure mode like the otherswitches in the fabric. This precedent condition may be fulfilled by (i)operator pre-configuring the switch 1230 entirely, or (ii) by attemptingto set or configure the switch through the network once it is physicallyconnected, or (iii) by some combination of operator pre-configurationand through-network configuration. Certain embodiments using thiscombined approach call for the operator to assure that the switch 1206is electrically capable and set to secure mode, while the particularmanagement and security information about the fabric come to the newswitch 1206 through the network.

In some embodiments, after physical connection to the fabric, perhaps bya connection 1216 with switch 1205, the newly connected switch 1206receives management and configuration information (e.g. policy sets)from the primary FCS. This information may include any or all of thefollowing: LUN Zoning or other resource zoning settings and information;community security information; login name information; passwordinformation; and community management protocol information such as SNMPinformation. For optimum security, each entity in the network must havesecurity-related information that is consistent with each other entityand in some embodiments, it must be identical. Therefore, any changes inthe information, such as those that will occur upon adding switch 1206,must be propagated to the entire secure network (in this case the wholefabric). That may be accomplished by downloading the information fromthe primary FCS after physical connection. Any entity, including thenewly added switch that does not have consistent information becomessegmented, i.e. logically disconnected from the original fabric.

(1) Physical Access to Management Functions: The Fabric; A PolicyImplementation

The following description illustrates many features and techniques thatmay be used in any of the various embodiments of the invention.

The security policy sets (discussed earlier) may include a FabricConfiguration Server (“FCS”) policy. This policy defines a list of oneor more switches (by WWN) that are designated to be fabric configurationservers. The first switch on the list is designated as the primary FCS,and may be followed by one or more backup FCSs. In operation, if theprimary FCS is not a member of the fabric, the first backup FCS willbecome the primary FCS. If the first backup is not a member of thefabric, then the second will be primary and so on. When the operatorattempts to activate the security policy sets, if none of the specifiedFCS switches are then members of the fabric, the operator is warned andgiven an opportunity to cancel the activation.

The primary FCS is a trusted switch from which management operation maybe performed. Certain classes of inter-switch management traffic(examples below) will not be accepted by other switches in the fabricunless the originator is the designated primary FCS. The primary FCSwill also be responsible for distributing the policy sets to othermembers of the fabric when the fabric first forms and anytime there isan alteration to a policy. In addition, the primary FCS may supply thepolicies to new switches or potentially other devices entering thenetwork. In some embodiments, the distributed policies comprise a zoningpolicy set and/or security policy sets and/or passwords.

When connecting a switch to a fabric in which the secure policy sets arealready active, the new switch must be set to secure mode with an FCSlist that is identical to that of the existing fabric. Similarly, injoining a first fabric to a second fabric that operates in secure mode,the first fabric must be set to secure mode and have an identical FCSlist.

In many embodiments, the FCS policy may not be empty. If an attempt ismade to run an included security function without the necessary FCSpolicy set, the function will fail. In addition, in many embodiments,the FCS policy set may not be deleted.

When activated, the FCS policy may have effects on several fabricmanagement operations. The next several paragraphs explain theoperational differences.

Zone Configuration. All zoning operations must be performed from theprimary FCS. Any attempt to perform zoning operations on other switcheswill fail. If zoning changes are somehow made on a non-FCS switch, theinter-switch updates will be rejected by other switches in the fabricand the compromised switch will be segmented (logically disconnectedfrom the fabric).

Zone Merge Operations. In secure mode, zones may not merge in thetraditional sense. Therefore, when E-ports become active between twoswitches, only the names of the FCS servers (and a policy set versionidentifier) are exchanged between the switches. If there is no conflict(i.e. the views are the same), the switches will be added to the networkand any remaining policy sets will be downloaded from the primary FCS.

Fabric Segmentation With An FCS in Each Resultant Fabric. If the fabricsegments in such a way that one or more FCSs are separated from theothers, the resultant fabrics continue to operate us the now-smallernumber of FSCs. This is because the policies in each of the fabrics arenot changed in that they still contain all the specified FCS switches.Since the fabrics both contain a FCSs and consequently a primary FCS,the operator may perform fabric level administration on one fabricindependent of the other. If this is done, the fabrics may not be mergedagain without restoring identity.

Fabric Formation With no FCS. If segmentation results in a fabricforming without an FCS or if the only FCS switch in a fabric goesoffline, the fabric continues to operate with all policies in effect,including the FCS policy. However, in this event, no fabric levelmanagement may occur, including zoning, security policy changes,password changes and any API-based switch configuration operations.Furthermore, since no changes may be made, no new switches may be addedto the fabric. In the case of segmentation, if the fabric rejoins withanother fragment that includes one or more of the FCSs, then operationreturns to normal. If all FCSs are permanently gone, then theSecModeEnable command may be used to overwrite the FCS server list. Thiscommand accepts as arguments a list of switch WWNs to be used as the newFCS policy.

Taking the Primary FCS Offline. If the primary FCS is taken offline, thefabric continues operation with the first backup taking over as theprimary. If a configuration change is made to the fabric while theswitch is offline, the version number of the policy set will change. Ifthe original primary FCS then attempts to rejoin the fabric, theoperation will fail because of the version stamp. The invention allowsthe operator to zero the version stamp, which will allow the switch torejoin the fabric and download the current primary's database. Theformer primary may then resume it's place as primary.

API Operations. In secure mode, API connections to non-FCS switches areread-only connections allowing discovery operations only. None of theswitches in the fabric will accept an API related inter-switch “write”request from any switch other than the primary FCS.

Management Server Operations. In some embodiments, FCS policies will notrestrict the Platform Registration functions, even though thosefunctions do, in practice, alter fabric configuration information. Thesefunctions are used to allow connected entities to register theiridentities with the fabric and inherently require accessibility from allendpoints. Some embodiments of the invention call for secureauthentication when performing the Platform Registration functions.

SES Operations: If an FCS policy is in effect, SES requests are onlyaccepted from FCSs. SES requests may be forwarded through other switchesbut are only acceptable if originating from an FCS.

SNMP Operations. If SNMP community strings are enabled in the fabric,the string for read access be set to the same value on all switches inthe fabric. The string for write access will also be set to the samevalue on all switches in the fabric. The values used and any changesmust originate with the primary FCS, and, to the extent appropriate arepropagated from there. Any attempt to change an SNMP community string ona non-FCS switch will fail. Since SNMP is a switch-by-switch managementtool and has no fabric wide effects, FCS has no impact on non-communitystring SNMP operation. However, some embodiments of the inventionrestrict the use of SNMP access, in particular, through MAC zones, whichare discussed later.

Login Name & Password Changes. If login names are enabled in the fabric,all non-FCS switches share a common login name and password database.The FCS switches also share a common login name and password databasethat is different than the non-FCS version. The non-FCS switch logindatabase has the root and factory accounts disabled and will have adifferent admin account password than the FCS switches. The user accountwill be the same on all switches. The non-FCS switch admin password isset when the fabric is initially set to secure mode. Both the FCS andnon-FCS password can be changed using different management command,however, the password changes (as well as login name database changes)require appropriate authority and must originate from the primary FCS.All password changes are distributed to the FCS switches and all non-FCSchanges are distributed to all switches. The login databases are alsodistributed to the appropriate switches by the primary FCS and in mostembodiments, upon initialization. Finally, specific switch passwords maybe temporarily changed using a management command. This may be necessaryfor debugging purposes. The switch password will revert to the fabricview upon its next re-boot.

V. Security Over Logical Management Channels

As discussed earlier, this aspect deals with the confidentiality ofinformation during transport. In that respect certain embodiments of theinvention call for one or both of the following (i) encryption andsecreting techniques during transmission, and (ii) physical detection oflink anomalies.

Regarding encryption, while both public-key encryption and secret-keyencryption are commonly used today, any encryption may be suitable for aparticular application. For example, in many instances secret-keyencryption may be sufficient. Nevertheless, because of the computationaloverhead involved with encryption operations, various embodiments of theinvention call for selectively encrypting information based upon therisk it presents if miss-directed. In that regard, many embodiments ofthe invention call for only the encryption of passwords while otherembodiments call for encryption of all management and configurationtraffic. In either case, most embodiments of the invention prohibitencryption of routine data transmission due to the overhead.

Regarding physical detection of link anomalies, certain embodiments ofthe invention call for the monitoring and detection of the communicationlines. In these embodiments the lines are monitored for any of thefollowing: (i) events that may indicate the line was temporarily broken;(ii) events that indicate a permanent or temporary energy loss in theline, which may be indicative of tapping; (iii) events indicating achange in frequency, intensity, wavelength or phase of the transmittedsignal that may be indicative of tapping or breaking. In theseembodiments, once the anomalous event is detected, the system mayre-authenticate one or more potentially tainted links.

VI. Logical Access to Management Channels

Many embodiments of the invention use management access controls (“MAC”)to place fabric-wide limits on the ability access fabric switches viathe various management access methods (e.g. SNMP, HTTP, API etc.) Mostembodiments call for one MAC policy per access method. Generally, if agiven access method does not have a MAC policy, then there are norestrictions associated with that method. In addition, if a MAC policyexists for a certain access method, but the policy is empty, then thataccess method is disabled fabric-wide.

MAC policies are a complement to FCS and the two may work well together.For example if MAC policies and FCS policies are simultaneouslyenforced, the allowed management access methods will only operate on theprimary FCS. Alternatively stated, in order to effect any particularmanagement access or activity, that access or activity must be allowedby both the MAC policies and the FCS policy.

The following paragraphs describe implementation details of the MACpolicies for the eight management access methods that apply to currentFC switches. Each policy may have application in one or more embodimentsof the invention.

SNMP MAC Policies. There are two MAC policies for SNMP. Specifically,there is one policy for read access and a separate policy for read-writeaccess. These policies list the TCP/IP addresses from which connectionsor messages will be accepted by any switch in the fabric. The IPaddresses are specified using standard “dot” notation, for example128.192.74.102. Wild cards are allowed in the IP addresses and a zerofield is treated as such.

Telnet MAC Policy. The Telnet policy contains a list of TCP/IP addressesallowed to establish Telnet connections to switches in the fabric. Thenotation for TCP/IP addresses is the same as for SNMP, illustratedabove.

HTTP (WebTools) MAC Policy. HTTP policy contains a list of TCP/IPaddresses allowed to establish HTTP connections to switches in thefabric. The notation for TCP/IP addresses is the same as for SNMP,illustrated above.

API MAC Policy: API Policy contains a list of TCP/IP addresses allowedto establish an API connection to switches in the fabric. APIconnections may be made to any switch in the fabric, but only thoseconnections to FCS servers can be used for write operations. Thenotation for TCP/IP addresses is the same as for SNMP, illustratedabove.

SES MAC Policy. The SES policy contains a list of WWNs of device portsthat are allowed to access SES.

Management Sever MAC Policy. This policy contains a list of WWNs ofdevice ports that are allowed to access Management Server functionality.

Serial Port MAC Policy. The serial port policy contains a list of switchWWNs for which serial port access is enabled. If a serial port MACpolicy exists, then all switches not in the policy member list havetheir serial ports disabled. If the MAC policy exists and is empty, thenall serial ports are disabled.

Front Panel MAC Policy. This policy contains a list of switch WWNs forwhich front panel access in enabled. If a front panel MAC policy exists,all switches not in the policy member list have their front panelsdisabled. If a MAC policy exists and is empty, then all front panels aredisabled.

VII. Device or Entity Connection Controls.

A. Device or Entity Connection Controls: Applying Policies

In specific implementation, the invention has provided two differingpolicies for device and entity connection controls. The first is the“DCC” policy, or device connection control policy. In some embodiments,this policy allows for the specification of the rules for bindingnon-switch ports to switch ports and multiple DCC policies may exist inthe fabric. For example, referring to FIG. 12, switch 1203 has only oneport connected to a non-switch entity, which is computer 1225. In orderfor link 1219 to transmit data and information, the DCC policy must bindthe switch port connected to link 219 with the host bus adaptor port incomputer 1225. If that binding is not in the DCC policy, then the linkwill be ineffective.

For further illustration, if the table below represents the DCC policy,then Non-Switch WWN1 (port X) may only connect with Switch Ports WWN1and WWN3. If Non-Switch Port WWN1 (port X) attempts to connect withSwitch Port WWN2, the switch will reject (logically disconnect) thenon-switch port. Similarly, according to the table, Non-Switch Port WWN2(port Y) may only link with Switch Ports WWN1, WWN2 and WWN4.

Non-Switch Port Identity Bound to Switch Ports Identified As Non-SwitchWWN1 (port X) Switch PortWWN1 Switch Port WWN3 Non-Switch Port WWN2(port Y) Switch Port WWN 1 Switch Port WWN 2 Switch Port WWN 4

When a DCC policy is active, whenever a non-switch device performs aFLOGI request, the WWN specified in the FLOGI request will be validatedto ensure that the device is connected to an authorized switch port. Ifthe validation fails, then the non-switch device is denied access to thefabric through that port. WWNs that are not specified in a DCC policywill be allowed to connect to any switch port that is not mentioned in aDCC policy. In some embodiments of the invention, all PLOGI's to devicesare intercepted and a verification is done to insure that the sourceport isn't attempting to spoof the target device with a WWN other thanthat used for the corresponding FLOGI.

A DCC member list contains one or more non-switch device port names andone or more switch port references. The non-switch device portreferences are by port WWN, while the switch port reference are byswitch WWN followed by a parenthetical port list.

The second policy for device and entity connection controls is theswitch connection control policy (“SCC”). This policy contains a list ofswitches (by WWN) that are allowed to be a member of the fabric.Switches not in the list will not be allowed to join the fabric. If theSCC policy does not exist, then no limitations are put on which switchesmay join the fabric. Each individual port in the fabric enforces thepolicy at the E-port level. Each switch examines each E-port connectionto determin if the connected switch is named in the SCC policy. Iftnotin the list, the E-port is segmented. During initial fabric build, aswitch not in the SCC list will be allowed to join the fabric for ashort time while that switch's neighbors await download from the primaryFCS.

Finally, the invention allows for combining the SCC policy with the DCCpolicy to yield similar functionality. The combination policy has thesame form as the DCC policy, yet the difference is in implementation. Asshown in the table below, the combined policy specifies all ports in thesystem (switch and non-switch) and, for each, all allowed connections.In this manner, the DCC function is satisfied by listing all ports towhich non-switch ports can link. Furthermore the SCC function is alsosatisfied because all ports are listed; therefore, if a port attempts toenter the fabric but is not a member of the list, then it is segmented.

Port Identification Allowed Connections Switch Port WWN5 Non-Switch PortWWN7 Non-Switch Port WWN9 Switch Port WWN4 Non-Switch Port WWN9 SwitchPort WWN7 Non-Switch Port WWN7 Switch Port WWN6VIII. Link Authentication

A. Generally

As discussed earlier, a fundamental element of security is the abilityto be exactly sure of who or what is at the other side of acommunication connection. If one desires a secure system, each elementin the system must be certain of the authentic identity of all connectedelements. For example, referring then to FIG. 1, switch 116 must bemutually authenticated with switches 110 and 114 as well as elements132, 134, 168, 166, and 164. Furthermore, examining at a more granularlevel, a switch (an element), may authenticate another switch (anotherelement) one port at a time. Therefore, the authentication process maybegin at the port (or sub-element) level.

Referring to FIG. 3, a fabric is shown including two switches 301 and302. The switches are linked together twice (sometimes called“trunking”) by links 308 and 309. Link 308 joins E-port 304 with E-port306 and link 309 joins E-port 305 with E-port 307. Of course, in thebroadest context, the links may consist of any viable communicationtransport mechanism, such as copper or metal wires, fibre or other lightcarrying mechanism or even an RF-carrier system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the switches 301 and 302 becomemutually authenticated one link at a time. More specifically, in thoseembodiments, a single link between two switches (for example, link 308)will begin and end authentication before the next link begins. Forexample link 308 may authenticate first via a communication exchangebetween E-port 304 and E-port 306. After the authentication of link 308is ended, then link 309 would authenticate via a communication exchangebetween E-port 307 and E-port 305. In other embodiments, the links 308and 309 may authenticate simultaneously or one link may beginauthentication before the other completes.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a fabric including 3 switches is shown. Tofilly authenticate the fabric, each switch must mutually authenticatewith the other two. This may occur as follows: switch 401 mayauthenticate with switches 403 and 402 by respectively authenticatinglink 410 (ports 405 and 411) and link 408 (ports 404 and 406); switch403 may mutually authenticate with switch 402 by authenticating link 409(ports 412 and 407). In some embodiments, the authentication will occurone switch at a time. Specifically, one switch will fully authenticateitself with all switches (to which it connects) before the next switchbegins. For example, in filly authenticating the fabric of FIG. 4,switch 401 may begin and end authentication with switch 403 and thenbegin and end authentication with switch 402, after which switch 402would begin authenticating itself with switch 403.

B. Basic One Link Authentication

In certain embodiments, the invention contemplates that system elementsmay authenticate each other by authenticating all communication linksbetween all relevant ports (or connection points). In such a system, afirst element must authenticate all ports to which it connects(“connected ports”). Furthermore, in order to achieve mutualauthentications, the connected ports must authenticate the first port.

Referring to FIG. 5 a, there is shown a very basic approach for a oneway authentication along with (i) port A 501, (ii) memory associatedwith port A 502, (iii) Secret Fact-A 504, (iv) port B 503, (v) InfoB505, and (vi) derivative of InfoB 506. The figure demonstrates port A501 authenticating port B 503 and for easier reading, some of thenumbers may be withheld in the following description. In thisimplementation, Port A 501 must generate or otherwise obtain a secretfact and remember that secret fact in some way such as by storing it ina memory like memory 502. Port A sends to port B the Secret Fact-A. PortB receives Fact-A and sends back the following: Fact-A; Informationabout port B (“InfoB”); and a derivative of InfoB. In this very basiccase, InfoB may include any information about or related to port B andthe derivative of InfoB can be anything based upon InfoB, such as aencryption, encoding, checksum or hash or even an encryption or encodingof a checksum or hash. When port A receives the information, it does thefollowing verifications to achieve one-way authentication. Port Avalidates that the Fact-A received is the same as the Fact-A sent. If itis, there is a higher probability that the information came from port B.This is because Port A only sent the information to port B. Port A alsoattempts to verify InfoB 505 with the derivative of InfoB 506. This maybe accomplished by either, (i) creating a derivative (the same way Bdid) of InfoB 505 and comparing the created derivative to the sentderivative 506, or (ii) reversing the derivative of InfoB 506 to attemptto recreate InfoB and then comparing the re-created InfoB with thereceived InfoB 505. Whichever technique is used, if the compare showsidentity, then the probability of B's authenticity is further increased.This increased probability is shown in various ways including thefollowing: first, InfoB is information about B which validates, to someextent, that B is the source; second, in order to have an identicalmatch, Port A must have used an deriving or re-creating mechanism thatis identical or complementary to the mechanism that port B used. At theend of this process, port A has authenticated port B. In order for portB to authenticate port A, the ports must change roles in the sameprocess. After doing so, ports A and B would then be mutuallyauthenticated.

This very basic implementation may be enhanced in a multiplicity ofways. Referring to FIG. 5 b, a similar process is shown, this timeincluding (i) port A 507, (ii) memory associated with port A 509, (iii)Secret Fact-A 510, (iv) port B 508, (v) derivative of Fact-A 512, (vi)InfoB 513, and (vii) derivative of InfoB 514. Once again, for easierreading, some of the numbers will be withheld in the followingdescription. Differing here is the use of a derivative of Fact-A 512rather than simply Fact-A 510 in a transfer from port B to port A.Applying a similar process as in the first example, this change wouldcause port A to compare its memorized Fact-A 510 with the receivedderrivative of Fact-A 512 in a manner similar to the way that the InfoBinformation was handled in the earlier example. That is, Port A can makethe compare by either, (i) creating a derivative (the same way B did) ofthe stored Fact-A 510 and comparing the created derivative to the sentderivative 512, or (ii) reversing the sent derivative of Fact-A 512 toattempt to recreate Fact-A and then comparing the re-created Fact A withthe stored Fact-A 510. Like the case with InfoB this adds to theconfidence of authenticity because of the necessity that Port A'sderivation or re-creation methods must be identical or complementary tothose used by Port B. Of course, the confidence would be furtherenhanced if the derivation methods were specific to port A, port B orsomething related to one or both. For example, the derivation scheme maybe one that is specific to a group of ports in which both Port A andPort B are members. The derivation scheme might also be specific to oneport or the system upon which one port is resident.

Referring now to FIG. 5 c, there is shown (i) port A 515, (ii) memoryassociated with port A 516, (iii) Secret Fact-A 517, (iv) port B 518,(v) type 1 derivative of Fact-A 519, (vi) InfoB 520, and (vii) type 2derivative of InfoB 521. Once again, for easier reading, some of thenumbers may be withheld in the following description Expanding now onthe concept of derivative types that are specific to ports, assume aderivation scheme (e.g. Scheme Alpha) is specific to an entity (e.g.Entity Beta). It follows that the Beta entity may create derivations offacts using the Alpha scheme (e.g BDA—Beta's Derivative using schemeAlpha). Since Alpha type derivations are specific to Entity Beta,anytime a different entity identifies an Alpha type derivation, there isa high degree of confidence that the source was entity Beta. Referringnow to FIG. 5 c, this concept is useful in authenticating ports. Port Awill send a secret fact 517 to port B and then receive back a type 1derivative of that fact 519. If the type 1 derivative is specific toport B, then port A can have a very high degree of confidence that thesecret fact 517 actually arrived at port B and that the response 519 isactually from port B.

Referring now more broadly to FIG. 5 c, the probability of trueauthentication is further enhanced because derivative of Fact-A 519 andderivative of InfoB 521 are created through differing derivation schemes(type 1 and type 2 respectively). Furthermore, as above, this techniquemay be varied by using derivation schemes that are specific to one orboth ports. For example, type 1 derivation may be specific to port Bwhile type 2 derivation may be specific to a system or group of port inwhich both port A and port B are members.

Many of the aforementioned concepts are illustrated now in FIG. 5 d,which shows a mutual authentication process between port A and Port Band includes the following: (i) port A 522 and port B 524, (ii) memoryassociated with port A 535 and memory associated with port B 525 (iii)Secret Fact-A 523 and Secret Fact B 526, (iv) type 1 derivative ofFact-A 528, (v) type 2 derivative of Fact-B 530 (vi) InfoA 531, (vii)type 3 derivative of InfoA 532; (viii) InfoB 533, and (ix) type 4derivative of InfoB 534. Once again, for easier reading, some of thenumbers may be withheld in the following description. Here, the exchangefor mutual authentication goes as follows. Port A may authenticate portB after receiving (i) InfoB 533, (ii) a type 1 derivative of Fact-A 528,and (iii) a type 4 derrivative of InfoB 534. Port B may authenticateport A after receiving (i) InfoA 531, (ii) a type 2 derivative of Fact-B530, and (iii) a type 3 derivation of InfoA 532. Noteworthy here is thatthere are four types of derivation. This may be used to lend tremendouscredibility to the authentication process, particularly if thederivation schemes are one-way and complementary as in a public keyinfrastructure system. In an embodiment of that nature (using a PKIinfrastructure), if a type 1 derivation is specific to port A (or itshost system), then once port B created its derivation of Fact-A, onlyport A can recreate Fact-A for comparison (of course, in a PKI system,port A would actually recreate a hash, but that will be explained ingreater detail later).

In another embodiment, type 1 derivation would be specific to port B,type 2 derivation would be specific to port A and type 3 and 4derivations (“type 3-4”) would be the same and specific to a system inwhich ports A and B are members. An embodiment of this nature is idealfor mutual authentication of ports. This is because three types ofderivation (e.g. encryption, encoding or other schemes to enhancesecurity), allows each port to authenticate the other in two ways:

One way by using a derivative type specific to the port to beauthenticated. Therefore, if port A is authenticating port B, the type 1derivation will be used and when port A verifies its secret fact, itwill have a high degree of certainty that the derived secret fact camefrom port B because type 1 derivatives are specific to port B; and,

A second way by using a derivative type specific to a larger grouping.For example all authorized entities may share the type 3-4 derivative.Therefore, in receiving InfoB (which is generally information about portB), if Port A recognized a type 3-4 derivative, then port A will have ahigh confidence that port B is from the authorized group

C. Efficient Mutual Authentication

In any communication system and especially in switching and networkingsystems, the efficiency of communication is important. There isgenerally little exception for overhead items such as security.Therefore, while the basic mechanisms for mutual authentication havebeen described, they may be enhanced by a sequencing and process thataccomplish the authentication most efficiently. The sequencing andprocess for mutual authentication, for some embodiments of theinvention, is shown in the table on FIG. 6. Referring then to FIG. 6 inconjunction with FIG. 5 d, an entire efficient mutual authentication maybe described. Since type 3 and type 4 derivations are the same for thisembodiment, the terms “type 3,” “type 4” and “type 3-4” al mean the samehere. In step 1, port A will request authentication by sending aninstruction indicating Authentication Request to port B along withaccompanying information (a payload). In this embodiment, the payloadaccompanying the Authentication request is Secret Fact-A 523. Next, instep 2, port B sends a Acknowledgement of the Request to port A. TheAcknowledgement instruction is accompanied by a payload that includes(i) Secret Fact-B 526, (ii) a type 1 derivative of Secret Fact-A 528(where type 1 derivatives are specific to port B), (iii) InfoB 533(typically, information about port B), and (iv) a type 3-4 derivative ofInfoB 534 (where a type 3-4 derivative is specific to a group or portsor switches in which ports A and B are members). At this point, port Ahas sufficient information to confirm or deny the authenticity of portB. Assuming that port B was authenticated, next, in step 3, Port A sendsa Confirm Authentication instruction to Port B. That instruction isaccompanied by the payload (i) a type 2 derivative of Secret Fact-B 530(where a type 2 derivative is specific to port A), (ii) InfoA 531, and(iii) a type 3-4 derivative of InfoA 532. Given that information, port Bcan now deny or confirm authenticity of port A. In this embodiment, theentire mutual authentication process required only three steps. Ofcourse, functionality, such as a “Complete” signal could be added at theexpense of additional steps. Referring now to FIG. 7, the chart showndemonstrates an alternative process for completing mutual authenticationin three steps.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a two-step mutual authentication process isshown. By comparison to the example for FIG. 6, FIG. 8 omits step 1,which is the authentication request accompanied by the payload of SecretFact-A. The invention contemplates that this step may be removed whenthe system generally interprets any communication from an unknown entityas a Request to Authenticate. The receiving port would then need tocomplete authentication before doing either of the following (i)propagating anything sent by the sending port beyond the control of thereceiving port, or (ii) allowing the sending port access to anythingsecure in the system. Furthermore, in order to complete the mutualauthentication, the receiving port will need to find a substitute forSecret Fact-A. For this substitute, the port could choose amongst thefollowing: all instructions received from the sending port; all payloadsreceived from the sending port; any identity information received fromthe sending port (identity information might include any informationrelated to the port, including without limitation, information about theport itself, its host system or any grouping or relationships in whichthe port is involved); any identity information known or inferable bythe receiving port; or any combination of the foregoing. For example,the Fact-A substitute may comprise a combination of received data,received identity information and inferred identity information.Continuing on with FIG. 8, the mutual authentication goes forward asshown. Of course, Secret Fact-B may be substituted like Fact-A or not.

D. Authentication Specific to a Fabric

Many embodiments of the invention may be implemented in a Fabric(discussed earlier). As discussed in the background, in a Fibre Channelenvironment the basic elements are generically called switches. Eachswitch may have one or more ports and each intelligent entity connectedto the Fabric will connect through a port. While the followingdescriptions specifically discuss the interaction between two E-ports inFibre Channel switches, it may equally apply to port-bearing entities inswitching systems or other communication systems.

While many of the embodiments discussed herein may exploit Public KeyInfrastructures (“PKI”), the embodiments discussed in connection withFIG. 9, sometimes make specific reference to PKI elements and processes.Once skilled in the art would be familiar with PKI and likely need nopredicate, however, some basic predicate is nevertheless provided.

Many embodiments of the invention contemplate that each intelligententity in the network (here we will say a switch) has its own PKIinfrastructure, which comprises a certificate, a CA root certificate, apublic key and a private key.

A certificate or digital ID is generally the electronic equivalent to adriver's license of passport. It is used for electronic presentation toverify identity. The certificate binds the identity to a pair ofelectronic keys, one public and one private. The certificatespecifically comprises: a public key for the switch; a private key forthe switch; a version of the switch's own certificate signed with theprivate key of the root CA; and the Root CA certificate, which includesthe public key of the root CA.

A CA root certificate is a certificate authority root certificate, whichis essentially the digital certificate of the certification authority,except it does not include the CA private key. The certificationauthority is the entity that issues certificates and it sits at the topof the security food-chain, i.e. trust in the CA is assumed. The CAissues certificates signed with its own private key and users verify theCA using the CA root certificate (including the public key). (While thisexample discusses the Root CA and Root CA certificate, the invention maybe generalized to CA and CA certificate. The invention does not requirethat the CA be at the top of the chain, although, it should be higher inthe chain than all the entities that need to mutually authenticate.)

“Signing” something (usually a data structure) involves the followingprocess. Take a hash of the item to be signed and encrypt the hash.Often a signed item is sent with the un-hashed and un-encrypted item.That way a comparison may be made by the receiving entity.

In order to obtain a PKI infrastructure, each switch must access thecertificate authority either during manufacturing via installation orlater through some other communication mechanism. In the case where thecertificate is not obtained during manufacturing, a switch may obtain acertificate using a software utility running on the switch or aconnected host. In one embodiment the utility is host-based and itfunctions by gathering up all the certificate requests in the fabric andpotentially elsewhere in the host-connected network. In that embodiment,the utility uses the host infrastructure to first query the certificateauthority to satisfy the switches' certificate requests. The certificateauthority communicates with the utility and fulfills these requests. Theutility then distributes the certificates to the appropriate requestingswitches. When a switch ships from the factory, it has a certificate onboard so the utility is unnecessary. If a switch is upgraded from afirmware level without security, then it must go through some type ofcertificate acquisition process. In one embodiment the switchmanufacturer serves as the certificate authority and a website is usedto facilitate communication with the host-based utility. Furthermore,the physical communication between the host and certificate authoritymay be any useful communication vehicle such as the Internet, atelephone line, a proprietary network, a wireless link, any combinationof the foregoing or any other way that two intelligent machines maycommunicate).

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown hardware and a process forauthenticating two switches; Switch A 901, the initiating switch, andSwitch B 902, the responding switch. In this embodiment, the process iscalled SLAP, which is an acronym for Switch Link AuthenticationProtocol. On the left of FIG. 9, the process steps executed by Switch A901 are shown. On the right, the process steps executed by Switch B areshown. In the middle, the instructions and payloads are represented.

A system may begin a SLAP at any of the following times: (i) uponpower-up of the fabric or any port-bearing entity that may be includedin the fabric; (ii) upon entry of a new port into the fabric; or (iii)upon a user command (either a human user of an application somewhere onthe network). In some embodiments, the SLAP is initiated by the portwith the highest world-wide-name (“WWN”). WWNs are unique numbers usedto identify ports in certain networking systems such as in a FibreChannel network.

Referring to FIG. 9 and assuming that switch A's 901's port has thehigher WWN, switch A 901 may initiate a SLAP with Switch B 902. In doingso, switch A 901 will generate a random number. In some embodiments,that random number may be a nonce. A “nonce” is generally anon-repeating string freshly generated by the sender. In someembodiments, the nonce is obtained through a PKI call but it might alsobe obtained in any known manner, such as by implementing as a counter (asequence number) or as a timestamp. For purposes of this example,whether a nonce, random number of other fact, the item will bedesignated as Ra, which generally indicates a random number generated byswitch A 901 After generating Ra, switch A 901 stores Ra in a localmemory. Any type of memory (DRAM, SRAM, optical, magnetic or otherwise)is sufficient although many embodiments use SRAM local to the engagedport. Switch A 901 then sends a SLAP_Request instruction 904 to switch B902. The payload with the instruction 904 is “Ra.”

Switch B 902 receives the instruction 904, and engages in the SLAP.First switch B 902 stores Ra in memory. Switch B 902 then generates itsown fact, “Rb.” Switch B 902 then sends to Switch A, a SLAP Acknowledgeinstruction 906. The payload with SLAP Acknowledge 906 comprises: Rb; acopy of Ra signed with switch B's 902's private key (“Sb(Ra)”); andswitch B's 902's certificate.

For illustrative purposes, this paragraph describes Switch B's 902'sactions in detail in order to more fully appreciate the interaction withPKI infrastructure. In signing Ra, switch B 902 creates a hash of Ra andthen encrypts the hash using switch B's 902's private key. In the caseof the switch B's certificate (Cb), it comprises: switch B's public key;switch B's WWN (world-wide name); other information about switch B thatis static (capable of being shipped with the switch); and a signedversion of the data structure that comprises all of the foregoing threeitems—that is, a Root CA signed version of the Cb data-structure.Therefore, switch B 902 simply sends the signed version of itscertificate that came from the root CA (with switch B's 902's originalcertificate). Switch B 902 cannot create the signed portion of Cbbecause it is signed with the PRIVATE key of the Root CA (neither switchB nor any other entity should have access to the Root CA private key).

Referring again to FIG. 9, switch A 901 receives the SLAP Acknowledgeinstruction 906 and attempts to verify (in no necessary order) both Cband switch B's 902's signature. If either does not verify, then the SLAPends and no communication between the ports will be allowed until a SLAPcompletes successfully. If both the certificate and the signatureverify, then switch A 901 sends a SLAP_Confirm instruction 909 to switchB 902. The payload for the SLAP_Confirm instruction 909 comprises asigned version of Rb (“Sa(Rb)”) and Ca, which is switch A's 901'scertificate.

Once again for illustrative purposes, this paragraph will describedetails of switch A's 901's activity prior to sending the SLAP_Confirm909. Switch A 901 will first attempt to verify Cb (the certificate) sentby switch B 902. To do so, switch A 901 first creates a hash of switchB's 902's certificate. Second, switch A uses its copy of the Root CApublic key to decrypt the signed copy of switch B's 902's certificate.Third, switch A compares those two values. If the values are the same,then switch B's 902's certificate is verified. This means that switch A901 has indeed received a copy of switch B's 902's authenticcertificate. We know this because the certificate authority is trustedand a hash of switch B's 902's certificate (as provided by switch B 902)was identical to the hash of switch B's 902's certificate derived bydecrypting a version signed by the Root CA. Next switch A 901 willattempt to confirm switch B's signature. To do this, first switch Acreates a hash of the previously stored Ra. Second, switch A uses switchB's 902's public key (just received) to decrypt the Sb(Ra). If theresults of the first and second steps yield identical hash values, thenswitch B's 902's signature is verified meaning switch B is what it saysit is and that the SLAP_Acknowledge was certainly sent by switch B 902.

Referring back to FIG. 9, switch B 902 receives the SLAP_Confirminstruction 909 and then attempts to perform similar confirm operations.In particular, Switch B 902 attempts to verify Ca and switch A's 901'ssignature. If either does not verify, then the SLAP terminates and theengaged ports will not be allowed to communicate. If the signature andCa verify, then the SLAP is functionally complete and the two switchesare functionally mutually authenticated. However, in order for switch A901 to know the operation was successful there must be some indicationfrom switch B 902. Referring to FIG. 9, that indication is the SLAP_Done913 instruction sent from switch B 902 to switch A 901.

Yet again, for illustrative purposes the details of switch B's 902'sactivities will be described for the time just prior to sending theSLAP_Done instruction 9′3. First, switch B 902 will attempt to verifythe certificate Ca sent by switch A 901. To do so, switch B 902 firstcreates a hash of Ca. Second, switch B 902 uses its copy of the Root CApublic key to decrypt the signed copy of switch A's 901's certificate.Third, switch B 902 compares those to values. If the values are thesame, then Ca is verified. This means that switch B 902 has indeedreceived a copy of switch A's 901's authentic certificate. We know thisbecause the certificate authority is trusted and a hash of switch A's901's certificate (as provided by switch A 901) was identical to thehash of switch A's 901's certificate as derived by decrypting a versionsigned by the Root CA. Next switch B 902 attempts to confirm switch A's901's signature. To do this, first switch B 902 creates a hash of thepreviously stored Rb. Second, switch B 902 uses switch A's 901's publickey (just received) to decrypt Sa(Rb). If the results of the first andsecond steps yield identical hash values, then switch A's 901'ssignature is verified meaning switch A is what it says it is and thatthe authentication confirm instruction was certainly sent by switch A.

E. Timing Authentication

In some environments, the timing of a mutual authentication process maybe security critical or may create opportunities for design excellence.In the area of ctitical security, in order to be most secure,authentication must be completed prior to the exchange of substantivedata or the granting of access to downstream data and services. In thearea of design opportunity, the authentication process may be used toresolve potential throttling problems upon system start-up. Thisthrottling problem occurs because the overhead activities associatedwith start-up are management items that are inherently slow compared todata operations. During start-up of a network, every entity on thenetwork may attempt to perform these management operationssimultaneously. The result may be a large amount of management requestscoming to an entity from every port. The consequence may be a failure inthe system or delays which are disproportionate to the start-up timerequired if the management functions were handled sequentially orotherwise orderly. While, this problem is most likely to occur in largernetworks, FIG. 4 may be used as an example. Referring to FIG. 4, forexemplary purposes, assume that all three switches and all entitiesconnected through the Uports began operating simultaneously (perhapsduring a power up). Focusing now on switch 401, management and overheadinquiries associated with both Uports and both Eports might arrivesimultaneously. These four simultaneous sets of requests might overwhelmthe capabilities of the switch 401. Of course, in a more practicalapplication having several switches and other connected entities, theproblem becomes more probable and troubling.

The authentication process may be exploited to resolve this problem.More specifically, the authentication process may dictate that the hostentity may only authenticate one link at any given time. By itself, thislimitation will add order to the situation when an entity isoverburdened with overhead activities. However, a solution may befurther enhanced by strategically placing the authentication process inthe sequence of start up. Ideally then, as each link comes up, it willreach the authentication stage and then the process may stop pendingcompletion of any other link authentication occurring on the hostentity. The designer may further enhance the solution by prioritizingthe authentication task appropriately among the other tasks that runduring start up. For example, a lower priority will allow all highpriority tasks to run before the link is held waiting for its turn toauthenticate. Essentially, the designer selects a threshold priority.Tasks that are vital to fabric formation would then generally havepriority above the threshold, and as such, be executed without delay.Other tasks would be prioritized below the threshold and therebyexperience potential delays that are ultimately beneficial to thesystem. While the delays may be caused by any program addition,including pure no-op cycles, a preferred embodiment of the inventioncalls for use of the authentication function with its one-port-at-a-timerule. Other embodiments might simply force a one-port-at-a-time rulewithout the use of an authentication function.

In the Fibre Channel switching environment, the invention envisions amore particular implementation of authentication timing andadministration in. Specifically, in the case of two Eports mutuallyauthenticating, the SLAP discussed earlier, is sandwiched between ELPand EFP during the start up process (in practice this is a thresholdselection). Information about ELP, EFP and much of the context of theinvention's placement of SLAP can be found in the FIBRE CHANNEL SWITCHFABRIC-2 (FC-SW-2) specification which can be found in the NCITS workingdraft of the American National Standard for Information Technology(ANSI), revision 5.3, Jun. 26, 2001 (incorporated herein, by reference,in its entirety).

In brief, ELP and EFP are part of the Switch Fabric Internal LinkServices (SW_ILS) that operate in the Fabric between Switches in a FibreChannel network. In the case of Exchange Link Parameters (ELP), LinkServices also operate internal to the Fabric between Bridge devices aswell as switches.

The Exchange Link Parameters (ELP) Switch Fabric Internal Link Servicerequests the exchange of link parameters between two interconnectedports, the operating environment between the two ports, and thecapabilities of the switches or bridge devices that are connected by theports. The Exchange Fabric Parameters Switch Fabric Internal LinkService requests the exchange of fabric parameters between two E_Portsand is used to establish the address allocation within the Fabric.

By placing the SLAP between ELP and EFP, the SLAP may enforce order onthe system configuration where Eports are involved (this is because ELPalways immediately precedes EFP in configuration between Eports). Orderis enforced by implementing rules for the SLAP process that (i) preventany one switch from engaging in a SLAP for more than a single port atany given time, (ii) placing a low enough priority on SLAP that theswitch will service other ports' tasks which are high priority forforming the fabric or otherwise.

F. A Specific SLAP Embodiment

The following notations indicate the details of a fairly specificembodiment of SLAP.

-   -   (1) SLAP Format

The SLAP Switch Fabric Internal Link Service transfers a SLAP commandand its related information from one switch to another switch. TheSwitch Link Authentication Protocol (SLAP) request Sequence is asfollows:

Format: FT-1

Addressing: For use in a Fabric environment, the S_ID field shall be setto hex‘FFFFFD’, indicating the Fabric Controller of the originatingSwitch. The D_ID field shall be set to hex‘FFFFFD’, indicating theFabric Controller of the destination Switch.

Payload: The format of the SLAP request Payload is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 SLAP_ILS Payload Item Size Bytes SLAP_ILS Code: hex ‘40’ 1Reserved 1 SLAP Command Code 1 Protocol Version 1 Command Dependent nInformationSLAP_ILS Code: This value is set to hex ‘40’ to indicate that thisInternal Link Service is a SLAP_ILS.SLAP Command Code: This field contains an 8-bit unsigned binary integerthat specifies the SLAP command that is to be transported from theoriginating switch to the destination switch. Valid command values areshown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 SLAP Command Codes Value (hex) Description Direction of Flow 00Reserved 01 SLAP_Request Initiating_Switch to Responding_Switch 02SLAP_Acknowledge Responding_Switch to Initiating_Switch 03 SLAP_ConfirmInitiating_Switch to Responding_Switch 04 SLAP_Done Responding_Switch toInitiating_Switch 05 SLAP_Reject Either Direction Other values ReservedProtocol Version: This field contains an 8-bit unsigned binary integerthat specifies the version of the SLAP protocol. This value shall be setto hex‘01’.Command Dependent Information: Contains information related to thespecific SLAP command specified in the SLAP Command Code field.

-   -   (2) SLAP Request        The SLAP_Request is sent from the Initiating_Switch to the        Responding Switch to begin the SLAP protocol. The SLAP_Request        shall be sent by the Switch with the highest Switch_Name. Hence        the Switch with the highest name shall become the        Originating_Switch. The format of the SLAP_Request information        is shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 SLAP_Request Information Item Size Bytes Transaction Identifier4 Initiating_Switch Nonce xTransaction Identifier: This field shall contain the 32 bit unsignedinteger Transaction Identifier generated by the Initiating_Switch.Initiating_Switch Nonce: This field shall contain a nonce created by theInitiating_Switch. The format of the nonce follows the general formatdescribed in

-   -   (3) General Nonce Format        The general nonce format is described in Table 4.

TABLE 4 General Nonce Format Item Size Bytes Format Identifier 2 NonceLength 2 Nonce Value nFormat Identifier: This field identifies the format of the nonce. ValidFormat Identifiers are described in Table 5.Nonce Length: This field indicates the total length in bytes of theNonce Value. Length values are depicted in Table 5.Nonce Value: This field contains the actual nonce value.

TABLE 5 Nonce Formats Format Length of Identifier Value (hex) value inBytes Type Format 1 0001 256 Unsigned Binary Integer Other valuesReserved

-   -   (4) SLAP_Acknowledge        The SLAP_Acknowledge is sent from the Responding_Switch to the        Initiating_Switch. The format of the SLAP_Acknowledge dependent        information is shown in Table 6.

TABLE 6 SLAP_Acknowledge Dependent Information Item Size BytesTransaction Identifier 4 Responding_Switch Nonce x Responding_SwitchSignature y Responding_Switch Certificate zTransaction Identifier: This field shall contain the 32 bit unsignedinteger Transaction Identifier generated by the Initiating_Switch.Responding_Switch Nonce: This field shall contain a nonce generated bythe Responding_Switch. The format of the nonce is described in 1.2.2.1.Responding_Switch Signature: This field shall contain the Signaturegenerated by the Responding_Switch. The format of the Signature isdescribed in 1.2.3.1.Responding_Switch Certificate: This field shall contain the Certificategenerated by the Responding_Switch. The format of the Certificate isdescribed in Table 1.

-   -   (5) General Signature Format        The general Signature format is described in Table 7.

TABLE 7 General Signature Format Item Size Bytes Signature Identifier 2Signature Length 2 Signature Value nSignature Identifier: This field identifies the format of the Signature.Valid Signature Identifiers are described in Table 8.Signature Length: This field indicates the total length in bytes of theSignature Value. Length values are depicted in Table 8.Signature Value: This field contains the actual Signature value.

TABLE 8 Signature Formats Format Length of Identifier Value (hex) valuein Bytes Type Format 1 0001 128 RSA Encrypted SHA-1 Other valuesreservedFormat 1 Signature Contents: The Format 1 Signature used by SLAP consistof a Signed nonce. In this case a hash of the nonce is generated usingthe SHA-1 algorithm. The has is then encrypted using the RSA private keybelonging to the sending Switch.

-   -   (6) General Certificate Format        The general Certificate format is described in Table 9

TABLE 9 General Certificate Format Item Size Bytes CertificateIdentifier 2 Certificate Length 2 Certificate Value nCertificate Identifier: This field identifies the format of theCertificate. Valid Certificate Identifiers are described in Table 10.Certificate Length: This field indicates the total length in bytes ofthe Certificate Value. Length values are depicted in Table 10.Certificate Value: This field contains the actual Certificate value.

TABLE 10 Certificate Formats Format Length of Identifier Value (hex)value in Bytes Type Format 1 0001 1024 X.509V3 Other values ReservedFormat 1 Certificate Contents:The Format 1 Certificates used in the SLAP protocol is compatible withthe X.509V3 standard. Information contained in the Certificate includesthe following:Distinguished Switch_Name: conforms to the Distinguished Name (DN)format shown below:“c=US, o=<Manufacturer Name (e.g. Brocade Communications Systems,Inc.)>, cn=<Switch_Name>”where abbreviations are interpreted as:

-   c—country-   o—organization-   cn—common name    Public Key of the Switch: The public key of the Switch is an RSA 128    byte key.    -   (7) SLAP_Confirm        The SLAP_Confirm is sent from the Initiating_Switch to the        Responding Switch. The format of the SLAP_Confirm dependent        information is shown in Table 11.

TABLE 11 SLAP_Confirm Information Item Size Bytes Transaction Identifier4 Initiating_Switch Signature X Initiating_Switch Certificate YTransaction Identifier: This field shall contain the 32 bit unsignedinteger Transaction Identifier generated by the Initiating_Switch.Initiating_Swith Signature: This field shall contain the Signaturegenerated by the Initiating_Switch. The format of the Signature isdescribed in 1.2.3.1.Initiating_Switch Certificate: This field shall contain the Certificategenerated by the Initiating_Switch. The format of the Certificate isdescribed in 1.2.3.2.

-   -   (8) SLAP_Done        The SLAP_Done is sent from the Repsonding_Switch to the        Initiating_Switch. The format of the SLAP_Done dependent        information is shown in Table 12.

TABLE 12 SLAP_Done Information Item Size Bytes Transaction IdentifierTransaction Identifier: This field shall contain the 32 bit unsignedinteger Transaction Identifier generated by the Initiating_Switch.

-   -   (9) SLAP_Reject        The SLAP_Reject is sent from one switch to another to indicate        that the SLAP has completed unsuccessfully. The format of the        SLAP_Reject dependent information is shown in Table 13.

TABLE 13 SLAP_Reject Information Item Size Bytes Null 0

F. Extending SLAP Beyond Switches

The example just above provides details for SLAP, which is a mechanismwhereby two E_Ports are mutually authenticated. The concepts of SLAP, asexplained earlier, apply far beyond E_port authentication. Therefore,some further illustration is provided here for a more specific use ofthe innovative authentication concepts in the Fibre Channel environment.Specifically, the following discussion summarizes FCAP, which is anacronym for Fibre Channel Authentication Protocol. Putting all incontext, the innovative authentication techniques described herein arean aspect of the overall security innovations proposed. FCAP and SLAPare implementations of the authentication techniques, although SLAP is aspecific application of the FCAP.

Basic Requirements of the FCAP

Some FCAP embodiments, just as some SLAP embodiments, consists of fourdifferent phases: (i) FCAP_Request; (ii) FCAP_Acknowledge; (iii)FCAP_Confirm; and (iv) FCAP_Done.

However, in addition to the four phases described above, FCAP alsodefines a FCAP_Reject operation. The protocol for FCAP is the same asthe protocol defined by SLAP, so FIG. 9 is instructive. Each entityinvolved in a FCAP authentication process: obtains a certificate thatmay be verified by the other entity involved in the authenticationprocess; is able to generate or obtain a random number or nonce; is ableto generate and verify a signature based on the random number or nonce;and, has an Identifier that uniquely identifies itself (this Identifieris contained in the entities' certificate).

FCAP and End Device Authentication

The FCAP can be used to authenticate end-devices attached to the Fabric.There are two possible ways this can occur: (i) end-device to Fabric;and (ii) client to well-known server. In the case of end-device toFabric authentication, the end-device itself is authenticated withrespect to the Fabric. This strengthens the access control mechanismsthat can be applied between the end-device and the Fabric.

In order to perform end-device to Fabric authentication, someembodiments require that the FCAP occur between the end-device and theFabric before or during FLOGI. This is because the Switch uses the WWNof the end-device during FLOGI processing. The benefit of performing theFCAP prior to FLOGI is that the existing FLOGI will not have to bemodified. In this case a the invention calls for a new FCAP ELS to bedefined and used prior to the FLOGI request. The FCAP interactions wouldthen complete successfully before a FLOGI is initiated by theend-device. In those embodiments, if the FLOGI was initiated prior tothe FCAP running, then the FLOGI would be rejected by the Switch. Inother embodiments, where the FCAP is not performed prior to FLOGI, theinvention proposes a new Secure_FLOGI be defined.

This new Secure_FLOGI essentially includes the FCAP and normal FLOGIfunctions in one set of operations. This may require that theSecure_FLOGI consist of at least four interactions between theend-device and the Fabric.

For client to well-known server authentication, the client must beauthenticated with respect to the well-known server. Currentlywell-known servers provide capabilities such as unzoned views of theFabric and the ability to configure zoning information. This requiresthat the originator of the well-known server request be authenticatedprior to any operations being accepted by the well-known server. Toauthenticate the client with respect to the well-known server, the FCAPis required to run prior to any well-known server request being issued.To accommodate this requirement, the invention proposes that the FCAPrun immediately following the Login to the well-known server. If awell-known server request were issued and the FCAP had not completedsuccessfully, then the request should be rejected.

FCAP Modification: A Key Agreement

The invention further proposes a modification to FCAP such that a keyagreement mechanism is provided between two entities. This would allowthe two entities to share a common secret key that could be used forencryption or message digest calculation. The key agreement mechanismcould be used (i) between switches, (ii) between end-devices andFabrics, or, (iii) between clients and well-known servers. For example,the Common Transport (FCCT) provides for a message digest in itsextended header that can be used to guarantee message integrity.However, the standard does not specify how the client and the well-knownserver acquire and agree on the common secret key required by bothentities to generate the message digest. FCAP could be modified suchthat as part of the client to well-known server authentication, a commonkey can be agreed upon. An algorithm such as Diffie-Hellman could beused. This would allow the client and the well-known server to make useof the message digest in the FC-CT header, which would guaranteeintegrity for the well-known service messages.

IX. Security Time Service

A. Generally

The sixth very general aspect of security to be discussed is securitytime service. In a network, a distributed secure time service canprovide many important advantages. As an example, networks using securetime stamps can generally prevent replay attacks because the attacker'sreplay will be inappropriately (or, at least suspiciously) time stamped.Furthermore, distributed time keeping in general allows for enhancementsto (i) error logging or reporting, (ii) event logging or reporting. Theresult is the ability to perform all levels of data and networkmanagement in an enhanced manner. For example, distributed time serviceallows for event correlation and distributed lock management.

As discussed several times now, the innovations disclosed here are bornin the area of Fibre Channel networking but may apply in a much widerarray of networking and computing environments. Nevertheless, given theorigins, one skilled in the art may realize that an underlying timeservice exists in the specification by the American National Standardfor Information Technology (“ANSI”), Fibre Channel—Genaric Services—2(FC-GS-2), approved Oct. 14, 1999, incorporated herein by reference, inits entirety. The following few paragraphs will explain some of the ANSIstandard for time service, in order to provide context and contrast forthe innovations described.

The functional model for the ANSI time service provides two primaryentities, a time service client and a time service server. The client isthe entity representing a user accessing the time service. Therefore, ina Fibre Channel network, the client service is a task running on everyswitch. The server is the entity that provides the time information.According to the specification, there may be more than one time serverin the network. However, from a client's perspective, the time serviceappears to come from the entity that is accessible at the “well-known”time service address identifier.

The basic ANSI time service protocol is a pull model because interactionis initiated when the client requests time information from the serverby using the Get_time command. The server then responds with a Get_timeResponse.

The ANSI specification does not provide a standard or mechanism fordistributed time service other than to set a plus-or-minus 2 secondtolerance, if such a distributed service is implemented.

B. Distributed Time Service—Generally

In order to create a secure distributed time service, there must firstbe a mechanism for a distributed time service (recall that none isspecified by the ANSI specification). In general, the invention proposeda push model distributed time service, wherein all the entities in thenetwork run a time-service client, only one designated entity in thenetwork runs a time service server and thereby has a leadership positionwith respect to time and those leadership entities bear theresponsibility of distributing the time. An embodiment of this conceptmay be seen in FIG. 13.

Referring to FIG. 13, there is shown terminal 1322 used to communicatemanagement commands with switch 1301. Also shown are: server 1324coupled to switch 1301; server 1325 coupled to switch 1303; storagedevice 1326 coupled to switch 1306, such switch containing counter 1328;switches 1305, 1304, and 1302; and storage device 1323. Sever 1325 isthe primary entity in the network for time service purposes so in ageneral sense, server 1325 is responsible for distributing the time toall the other entities in the fabric. Clearly, sever 1325 cannotdistribute the time directly to all entities, for example storage device1323 or switch 1304. Therefore, it is appropriate to route the timemessages through other entities in the network. While most embodimentstransfer the time information in-band (through the data path), someembodiments use the management channels or any other available mechanismfor communicating with the other entities.

In a non-secure mode, some embodiments of the invention allow forupdating the time at any entity in the network. Therefore, usingterminal 1322, an operator may update the time on switch 1301. Someembodiments allow for such and update to be initiated by a softwarecommand such as the command, “DATE.” Regardless of how initiated, ifthere is an update to switch 1301, the invention calls for switch 1301to route the updated time to the primary entity, (server 1325), afterwhich, the primary entity (server 1325) will disperse the update to allentities in the network.

In some embodiments, the time information forwarded is in the formatUniversal Time Coordinated (“UTC”). UTC is a well known format thatrepresents time in the number of seconds elapsed since Jan. 1, 1970. Ofcourse, the time information may be sent in any decipherable form.Furthermore, since the invention allows for an entity to cognize timezones, UTC is very convenient because the time zone may be indicated bya number minus 12 to plus 12, relative to UTC. However, since networksmay span several time zones, the time zone indicator is specific to anentity and not network-wide.

Some embodiments call for the time information updates to come from theprimary entity in periodic fashion. Therefore, if the period is T1seconds, then every T1 seconds the primary entity will propagate thetime throughout the network. In some embodiments, T1 is 64 seconds.

In some embodiments, when a non-primary entity receives time informationfrom the primary entity, it records the time or starts a counter andthen it updates it's own time information. The started counter (orrecorded time of arrival) may be used for many purposes. One notablepurpose is to validate (in some respect) the incoming time update. To dothis, the non-primary entity determines the elapsed time between timeindicated by the received time information (Ts—time sent) and the timeof receipt (Tr—time received). This difference (Tr−Ts) represents thepropagation time for the information. If that propagation time is inexcess of the maximum propagation time allowed by the network, then thetime update is disregarded.

Another notable use for starting a counter at the time of an updatearrival is used in conjunction with the concept of period, T1. If anon-primary entity has not received an update in over one period T1,then the switch should know that its time may not have beenappropriately updated. In some embodiments, if an update has not beenreceived in a period of two times T1 or more, the entity marks itself asunsynchronized. Of course, the entity may continue to operate, butwithout any benefit of distributed time.

In connection with the foregoing, in some embodiments of the invention,a non-primary entity will perform a periodic check of the elapsed timesince the last time information update. The non-primary entity mayperform this check on any interval, but the shorter the interval, theearlier any error can be noted. Assume, for this example, that thenon-primary entity performs this check on an interval of T2, which isapproximately equal to T1. When performing the check, the non-primaryentity will examine how much time has past since the most recent timeinformation update from the primary entity. For this reason, thenon-primary entity requires a threshold tolerance for determining whatis the tolerable length of elapsed time. Assume this tolerance level isT3. Therefore, if the non-primary entity discovers that T3 or more timehas elapsed since its last time information update, it will know thatits time may be unreliable and may mark itself as unsynchronized. Insome embodiments, T3 is greater than T1 because, there it is prudent towait at least one broadcast period before checking the age of the mostrecent update broadcast. In some embodiments, T3 is double T1. Forillustration the following example, refers to FIG. 13 wherein, primaryentity 1325 updates time information to switch 1306 at time T0. At thattime, switch 1306 starts counter 1328. After waiting a period of T2 (inthis case equal to T1 plus 1 second), switch 1306 will check the counterfor how much time has elapsed since the last time information updatefrom primary entity 1325. If the elapsed time is greater than T3 (inthis case equal to 2 times T1), then switch 1306 will mark itselfunsynchronized. However, after the elapse of only T1+1 seconds, the T3condition will not be met. Therefore, switch 1306 will wait another T2seconds and check elapsed time again. This time, if there has been noupdate, switch 1306 will find that greater than T3 seconds has elapsedand switch 1306 will mark itself unsynchronized.

C. Distributed Time Service—Switches In A Fabric

The invention contemplates the use of the foregoing distributed timeservice concepts in a Fibre Channel fabric wherein only the FibreChannel switches keep and control the time. In some embodiments, theprimary entity will be the fabric principle switch. Like the generalembodiments described above, some of the fabric embodiments use UTC timewith allowance for time zones and virtually all embodiments use SNTP(simple network time protocol).

Referring now to FIG. 14, in connection with FIG. 15, there is shown inFIG. 14 a Fibre Channel fabric similar to the network of FIG. 13. Thereis shown in FIG. 15 the actions of three devices, switch 1401, switch1405 and switch 1406 in some of the embodiments to be discussed.Referring again to FIGS. 14 and 15, assume that switch 1405 is theprinciple switch and that a DATE command is used on switch 1401 throughthe use of terminal 1422. The operator uses the DATE command to updatetime on switch 1401. Since switch 1401 is not the principle switch, theinvention calls for the update to be forwarded to the principle switch1405. Principle switch 1405 then updates all the switches in the fabricupon its regular update interval, which is every T1 seconds. Being inthe fabric, switch 1406 is among those that receive the update. Uponreceipt of the time information update, switch 1406 starts its counter1428 and stores the update time information in memory. The memory may beof any type although many embodiments use a non-volatile form of memory.Switch 1406 waits for T2 seconds from the time it started its counterand then it checks how much time has elapsed since its last timeinformation update (Te—time elapsed). Switch 1406 will compare Te with apre-determined threshold time, T3, that represents the system designer'stolerance for distributed time inaccuracy. In some embodiments T3 hasbeen chosen to be two times T1. Assuming T2 is about the same orslightly greater that T1, under normal circumstances, little or no timewill have elapsed since the last time update (this is because, undernormal circumstances, the invention calls for principle switch 1405 toupdate switch 1406 every T1 seconds). In this case, switch 1406 willsimply wait another T3 seconds and make a fresh compare. Switch 1406will do this over and over again unless there is an anomaly in thesystem, and the elapsed time Te is greater than T3. In that case, asindicated in FIG. 15, switch 1406 will set itself as un-synchronized

Having a accurate time synchronized with the remainder of the fabricallows switch 1406 to time stamp information so that enhanced functionsof the types previously described, may be implemented. For example,management and security information such as policies may be timestamped. Of course, data packets or frames may be time stamped as well,although only in very specific embodiments.

D. Secure Distributed Time Service—Generally

Having discussed a distributed time service, the disclosure now moves tothe securing of that time service. Like the non-secure distributed timeservice, the invention allows for generic use of secure distributed timeservice across multiple entities in different types and evenheterogeneous networks. In this general sense, the secure distributedtime service works as described above with the following caveats: (i)rather than a primary entity, a Network Configuration Entity (asdescribed much earlier) serves as the only eligible source of timeupdates; (ii) time updates may only be made on the NCE (the DATE commandwill not work on other entities in the network; and (iii) the time isforwarded by the NCE with a security or verification device such as thederivation schemes, signing or encryption all discussed much earlier.Other details about generic application of secure distributed timeservice will be easily inferred from the more detailed discussion of thefabric.

E. Secure Distributed Time Server—Fabric

Referring to FIG. 12, primary FCS is the only entity in the fabric thatmay change or distribute time. According to most embodiments, the otherswitches in the fabric will not accept time changes from any otherentity. However, any of the switches may service time requests byvarious hosts or non-switch entities.

In some embodiments, in order to secure the time information update, theprimary FCS signs the update with its private key. Recall that an FCS isa trusted switch in the fabric designated in many embodiments as thefirst on the FCS policy list. Recall also that signing is a PKI-basedverification and authentication technique (explained in detail muchearlier). By using a signed time update, the primary FCS allows thereceiving switches to verify the signature (as done with respect to FCSgenerally—discussed much earlier) before accepting the update.

Since, these implementations intertwine the FCS and secure distributedtime service, the notion of sequencing becomes relevant. In someembodiments, when secure mode is activated, the primary FCS first checksthe fabric to assure that all devices are capable of participating in asecure fabric. Once that is confirmed, the primary FCS distributes itscertificate (including its public key, which is used to verify itssignature) to all the switches in the fabric. After this, the timeserver task running on the primary FCS sends its first time update.Having received the certificate first, the switches in the fabric areequipped to receive a distributed secure time update. FCS policy andversion stamp are downloaded from the primary FCS to the other fabricmembers. Since the time update preceded the policy download, thepolicies may be time stamped. (After downloading the FCS policy, theprimary FCS does a fast boot of all the switches causing SLAP on alle-ports and policies downloaded to all switches.)

This sequence is altered in the case that a switch is powered on toenter a fabric wherein security is already enabled. In that case, theswitch must complete its authentication process (e.g. SLAP) before itwill receive its first time update from the primary FCS then allpolicies, zoning, password, and community strings.

Referring to FIG. 16, there is shown the hardware and process steps foran example of secure distributed time service under the invention, usinga PKI infrastructure and in a 3 switch fabric. The two process charts1630 and 1640 represent the basic process steps for the primary FCS in arepeating process and an intermittent process respectively. The twoprocess charts 1660 and 1670 represent the basic process steps for aclient switch 1602 in an intermittent and repeating operationrespectively. The arrows 1650 and 1651 represent communication betweenthe FCS 1601 and the client 1602. FIG. 16 also shows switch 1603 andlinks 1608, 1609 and 1610 comprising the fabric.

Referring again to FIG. 16, an instance of the time service client isrunning in switch 1603 and switch 1602 (for a brief discussion of theswitch hardware, see the discussion regarding same, much earlier).Furthermore, and instance of the time service server is running onprimary FCS, switch 1601. Referring now to intermittent process stack1640, when secure mode is turned on in the fabric (typically throughP-FCS 1601, the FCS first checks to see if the fabric is capable ofsecurity mode, meaning all devices to be included in the secure fabricmust have the appropriate hardware and software versions. If the fabricis not capable, then the secure mode does not activate. If the fabric iscapable the FCS sends its certificate out to all the switches in thefabric (1643), which in this case comprise switches 1602 and 1603. Sinceswitch 1602 and 1603 will behave identically in most embodiments, hereforward reference is only made to switch 1602.

Jumping now to intermittent stack 1660 switch 1602 receives thecertificate and stores it in a memory, which in many embodiments isvolatile memory 1621. Jumping back to stack 1640, FCS 1601 next sendsout the first time update. The update is signed using the FCS 1601private key. Jumping back to stack 1660, switch 1602 receives the signedtime stamp and stores it in a memory, which in most embodiments isvolatile memory 1621. In conjunction with storing the update, switch1602 will also note and store the time of arrival of the update). Switch1602 will also, virtually immediately start a counter (1663) that willmeasure the age of the received update (the counter value being equal tothe age and represented by Ta). In most embodiments the counter is asoftware task that exploits a hardware counter, which is all representedby counter 1620. If the Ta counter is already running when the timeupdate is received, then it is re-started. Switch 1602 then may performa frame delay check 1664 on the received update. In particular, switch1602 will determine the difference between the stored time of arrivaland the update time. If that difference is greater that a maximumexpected frame transfer latency, the operation is terminated a failure.Typically, the ANSI specification is used to determine maximum expectedframe transfer latency. Whether or not the Frame delay check 114 isused, switch 1602 will always verify the signature of FCS 1601. To dothis, switch 1602 will use the FCS 1601 public key received earlier withthe FCS 1601 certificate. If the signature validates, then the timestamp is accepted. If the signature does not validate, then the timeupdate is considered invalid and discarded.

Jumping back to stack 1640, after sending the first update, FCS 1601will go forward downloading time-stamped and signed policies to theother switches in the fabric. Next, FCS may proceed with authenticationof port 1645 (like SLAP—explained earlier.

Looking now at the repeating FCS operation 1630, FCS 1601 will generatea time update every T1 seconds. The wait period T1 is shown as the laststep in the process, but differing embodiments of the invention placethe wait period first, second, third or between any other two steps.Following the process as shown in FIG. 16, FCS 1601 generates a timeupdate 1631, and in some embodiments stores it in a memory. FCS 1601then signs the update 1632 and distributes it to the fabric devices1633. Finally, FCS 1601 waits T1 seconds and then begins the processagain, resulting in a repeating update being distributed every T1seconds. In some embodiments, T1 is equal to 64 seconds.

Looking now at switch 1602 repeating process represented in stack 1670,the clients in the secure distributed time system will monitor the ageof their most recent update and assume that their time is out ofsynchronization if their update is too old. In this example, switch 1602checks the age of its time update, Ta, every T2 seconds. As in the FCSrepeating process, the T2 waiting step 1675 is shown at the end, but mayoccur in the beginning or middle of the process. Referring then to theprocess 1670 as drawn, switch 1602 will check the age, Ta, of its lasttime update by determining if T3 is greater than Ta. T3 is aspecifically defined threshold value that the system designer oroperator has determined to be too long since the last update. If T3 isgreater than Ta, then switch 1602 will set itself unsynchronized andproceed to wait step 1675. If T3 is less than Ta then switch 1602 willreset any previous marking of unsychronization and proceed to wait step1675. Wait step 1675 provide for a wait of T2 seconds. T2 is theinterval upon which switch 1602 will check the age of its time update.Therefore, most embodiments set T2 equivalent to or greater than T1.However, a designer may wish to set T2 much lower or higher based uponthe mechanisms that might cause an unsynchronized condition to occur inany specific system.

F. Host and Other Operations

A host in the system may query for the time from any switch in thenetwork. The switch will return the time and the host may synchronize tothe fabric time by setting its local time based on the roundtrip delaycalculated using the information in the payload of the switchesresponse.

In secure mode, an operator may see the time on any switch in thenetwork using the DATE command, however, only the primary FCS allowsoperand to alter the time.

X. Non Limitation

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention areillustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size,shape, materials, components, circuit elements, wiring connections andcontacts, as well as in the details of the illustrated circuitry andconstruction and method of operation may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

1. A method of starting up a fabric comprising the steps of: powering onor re-starting a plurality of Fibre Channel switching devices, saidplurality of devices comprising said fabric and each said devicecomprising one or more ports for communication; selecting a prioritythreshold, said priority threshold relating to the importance of tasksin fabric formation; performing tasks having a priority higher than saidthreshold before beginning port mutual authentication; allowing only oneport per Fibre Channel switching device to engage in the process of portmutual authentication at any one time; performing any tasks having apriority lower than said threshold after port mutual authentication. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein said port mutual authentication comprisesthe sub-steps of: sending from a first port on a first switching deviceto a second port, on a second switching device, an authenticationrequest command having a payload of a first fact; sending from saidsecond port to said first port, a request acknowledge command having apayload of a second fact, a second-type derivative of said first fact,defined information concerning said second switching device, and athird-type derivative of defined information concerning said secondswitching device; and sending from said first port to said second port,a confirm authentication command having a payload of a first-typederivative of said second fact, defined information concerning saidfirst switching device, and a third-type derivative of definedinformation concerning said first switching device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said port mutual authentication comprises the sub-stepsof: sending from a first port on a first switching device to a secondport, on a second switching device, an authentication request commandhaving a payload of a first fact, defined information concerning saidfirst switching device, and a third-type derivative of definedinformation concerning said first switching device, sending from saidsecond port to said first port, a request acknowledge command having apayload of a second fact, a second-type derivative of said first fact,defined information concerning said second switching device, and athird-type derivative of defined information concerning said secondswitching device; sending from said first port to said second port, aconfirm authentication command having a payload of a first-typederivative of said second fact.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein saidport mutual authentication comprises the sub-steps of: sending a firstfact from a first port on a first switching device to a second port, ona second switching device, said first port coupled to said second portby a communication medium that is exclusive to said first port and saidsecond port; at said second switching device, creating a second-typederivative of said first fact, sending said second-type derivative ofsaid first fact from said second port to said first port; at said firstswitching device, storing said second-type derivative of said first factin a first memory; sending a second fact from said second port to saidfirst port; at said first switching device, creating a first-typederivative of said second fact; sending said first-type derivative ofsaid second fact from said first port to said second port; at saidsecond switching device, storing said first-type derivative of saidsecond fact in a second memory; sending defined information concerningsaid first switching device from said first port to said second port;sending a third-type derivative of said defined information concerningsaid first switching device from said first port to said second port; atsaid second switching device, comparing said defined informationconcerning said first switch with said third-type derivative of saiddefined information concerning said first switching device; at saidsecond switching device, comparing said first type derivative of saidsecond fact with said second fact; sending defined informationconcerning said second switch from said second port to said first port;sending a third-type derivative of said defined information concerningsaid second switch from said second port to said first port; at saidfirst switching device, comparing said defined information concerningsaid second switch with said third-type derivative of said definedinformation concerning said second switching device; and at said firstswitch, comparing said second type derivative of said first fact withsaid first fact.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein tasks that are bothslow-running and low-priority are prioritized below the threshold.
 6. Anetworking switch comprising: a memory; a plurality of ports adapted orcontrolled such that no port may begin an authentication procedure whileany other port is engaged in an authentication procedure, wherein anauthentication procedure is a process whereby a port on said networkingswitch mutually authenticates with a second port on a different switch,and wherein the authentication procedure is performed after tasks havinga higher priority in fabric formation and before tasks having a lowerpriority in fabric formation; and a first port adapted or controlled notto accept or send substantive data traffic to or from a linked portuntil after said first port and said linked port have mutuallyauthenticated.
 7. The networking switch of claim 6 further comprising: afirst port for sending said secret fact to a second switch; a secondport for receiving, a second-type derivative of said first secret factfrom said second switch, pre-defined information about said secondswitch, and a third-type derivative of said pre-defined informationabout said second switch; and a processor for (i) causing a comparisonbetween said first secret fact and said second-type derivative of saidfirst secret fact, and (ii) causing a comparison between saidpre-defined information about said second switch and said third-typederivative of said pre-defined information about said second switch. 8.A method of starting up a network comprising the steps of: powering onor re-starting a plurality of switching devices, said plurality ofdevices comprising said network and each said device comprising one ormore ports for communication; selecting a priority threshold, saidpriority threshold relating to the importance of tasks in networkformation; performing tasks having a priority higher than said thresholdbefore beginning port mutual authentication; and allowing only one portper switching device to engage in the process of port mutualauthentication at any one time; performing any tasks having a prioritylower than said threshold after port mutual authentication.
 9. Themethod of claim 8 wherein said port mutual authentication comprises thesub-steps of: sending from a first port on a first switching device to asecond port, on a second switching device, an authentication requestcommand having a payload of a first fact; sending from said second portto said first port, a request acknowledge command having a payload of asecond fact, a second-type derivative of said first fact, definedinformation concerning said second switching device, and a third-typederivative of defined information concerning said second switchingdevice; and sending from said first port to said second port, a confirmauthentication command having a payload of a first-type derivative ofsaid second fact, defined information concerning said first switchingdevice, and a third-type derivative of defined information concerningsaid first switching device.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein said portmutual authentication comprises the sub-steps of: sending from a firstport on a first switching device to a second port, on a second switchingdevice, an authentication request command having a payload of a firstfact, defined information concerning said first switching device, and athird-type derivative of defined information concerning said firstswitching device, sending from said second port to said first port, arequest acknowledge command having a payload of a second fact, asecond-type derivative of said first fact, defined informationconcerning said second switching device, and a third-type derivative ofdefined information concerning said second switching device; and sendingfrom said first port to said second port, a confirm authenticationcommand having a payload of a first-type derivative of said second fact.11. The method of claim 8 wherein said port mutual authenticationcomprises the sub-steps of: sending a first fact from a first port on afirst switching device to a second port, on a second switching device,said first port coupled to said second port by a communication mediumthat is exclusive to said first port and said second port; at saidsecond switching device, creating a second-type derivative of said firstfact, Sending said second-type derivative of said first fact from saidsecond port to said first port; at said first switching device, storingsaid second-type derivative of said first fact in a first memory;sending a second fact from said second port to said first port; at saidfirst switching device, creating a first-type derivative of said secondfact; sending said first-type derivative of said second fact from saidfirst port to said second port; at said second switching device, storingsaid first-type derivative of said second fact in a second memory;sending defined information concerning said first switching device fromsaid first port to said second port; sending a third-type derivative ofsaid defined information concerning said first switching device fromsaid first port to said second port; at said second switching device,comparing said defined information concerning said first switch withsaid third-type derivative of said defined information concerning saidfirst switching device; at said second switching device, comparing saidfirst type derivative of said second fact with said second fact; sendingdefined information concerning said second switch from said second portto said first port; sending a third-type derivative of said definedinformation concerning said second switch from said second port to saidfirst port; at said first switching device, comparing said definedinformation concerning said second switch with said third-typederivative of said defined information concerning said second switchingdevice; and at said first switch, comparing said second type derivativeof said first fact with said first fact.
 12. A method of starting up aFibre Channel switching device in a fabric comprising the steps of:powering on or re-starting a said Fibre Channel switching device, saiddevice forming a fabric when actively combined with at least one othersimilar switching device, said device comprising one or more ports forcommunication; selecting a priority threshold, said priority thresholdrelating to the importance of tasks in fabric formation; performingtasks having a priority higher than said threshold before beginning portmutual authentication; allowing only one port on said Fibre Channelswitching device to engage in the process of port mutual authenticationat any one time; and performing any tasks having a priority lower thansaid threshold after port mutual authentication.
 13. The method of claim12 wherein said port mutual authentication comprises the sub-steps of:sending from a first port on said Fibre Channel switching device to asecond port, on a second switching device, an authentication requestcommand having a payload of a first fact; sending from said second portto said first port, a request acknowledge command having a payload of asecond fact, a second-type derivative of said first fact, definedinformation concerning said second switching device, and a third-typederivative of defined information concerning said second switchingdevice; and sending from said first port to said second port, a confirmauthentication command having a payload of a first-type derivative ofsaid second fact, defined information concerning said Fibre Channelswitching device, and a third-type derivative of defined informationconcerning said Fibre Channel switching device.
 14. The method of claim8 wherein said port mutual authentication comprises the sub-steps of:sending from a first port on said Fibre Channel switching device to asecond port, on a second switching device, an authentication requestcommand having a payload of a first fact, defined information concerningsaid Fibre Channel switching device, and a third-type derivative ofdefined information concerning said Fibre Channel switching device,sending from said second port to said first port, a request acknowledgecommand having a payload of a second fact, a second-type derivative ofsaid first fact, defined information concerning said second switchingdevice, and a third-type derivative of defined information concerningsaid second switching device; and sending from said first port to saidsecond port, a confirm authentication command having a payload of afirst-type derivative of said second fact.
 15. A computer readable mediaencoded with program instructions for causing a microprocessor controlsystem of said Fibre Channel switching device perform the method ofclaim 12.